Hulk and His Priestess
by jumpingmanatee
Summary: After Hulk disappears from Sokovia, he crash lands in a forest where he is found by a certain Time Traveling Priestess. Two years pass and Bruce is once again found by Tony Stark, but Bruce is a completely different man, calm and happy. Tony convinces Bruce to return to New York, but Bruce doesn't return alone. What will the Avengers say when Bruce returns with Kagome?
1. Chapter 1

Kagome's adventures in the past were over, and it was time to move on. But she was not going to do so alone. When she returned from the Feudal Era for the last time she found Shippou waiting for her outside the Bone Eater's Well.

"Hello, mother." He said a tall dark haired main with stunning green eyes and a pleasantly deep voice.

"Shippou?"

He smiles and removes his glamour to reveal his red hair fox ears and six beautiful luscious tails.

"Shippou it really is you, why is it I never seen or felt you before now?"

"500 years is a long time, Kagome, I learned a lot of things and one of those thing is to blend in better with the humans." Shippou informs his mother.

"Why are you just now coming by?"

"Lord Fluffy Pants made me wait til you finished your mission in the past before involving myself in your life now."

"Sesshomaru is still alive?"

"Of course he is, he a powerful Daiyoukai, I don't think anything could kill him. Anyway the reason I'm here is to make sure that you're alright and because Sesshomaru doesn't want and I quote, 'The Miko to wallow in self pity and make something of her life.' So Sesshomaru is going to pay for you to get tutors so you can catch up and go on with school. Afterwards he expects you to come work for him."

Kagome stared at Shippou in shock, the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Okay."

"Good, now that, that is settled, how about you introduce me to the family."

And that was how it went Sesshomaru arranged for the best tutors for Kagome and she was able to catch up, go on to high school and college then ended up working for him at Taisho Industries as one of his executives. But she remained a humble Miko, living at home, helping her mother out every weekend with her duties at the Sunset Shrine.

On one of those weekend, Kagome decided that she wanted to spend some alone time in what was left of the forest of Inuyasha. She packed a lunch took a blanket and told her mother that she would be gone for the day in the forest.

"Okay Kagome have a nice time."

With that, Kagome hikes off into the forest. And as she walks, she lets her mind wander. She continues to walk enjoying the sound of nature that is slowly drowning out the sound of the busy city. But suddenly she realizes that something is wrong when she enters a clearing. There are trees that have been pulled up by the roots and tossed around everywhere.

Kagome looks around, fear beginning to stir within her, what could have caused such destruction? Suddenly she hears a deafening roar, Kagome drops her basket and blanket and immediately puts up a barrier around herself. Then out of the forest comes crashing an eight foot tall hulking green creature. The creature is bare chested with torn pants and no shoes, it roars once again at Kagome and rushes at her. Kagome stands firm, waiting to see what will happen when the creature hits her barrier. If it's a demon it will be instantly purified, if not, well shit, she didn't know what she was going to do.

As the creature comes closer, she braces for impact, it leaps into the air ready to smash her. It hits the barrier and is thrown back 50 feet, crashing and destroying more trees. Kagome gasps, when it hit the barrier, she was able to feel it's soul, it was human! A very angry human, but human nonetheless. Kagome instantly lowers her barrier picks up her basket and races off towards the direction that the creatures had been thrown. When she sees the creature slowly sitting up, holding it's head.

'Why do I keep call him an it when he's obviously male?' Kagome thinks.

As hulk sits up he looks around and sees the puny female that he attacked earlier come into the clearing though she stopped a good distance from him. He wanted to roar at her so she would get away from him, but he suddenly realized that he no longer felt any fear or anger towards her. He actually felt pretty good. Hulk stares at the pretty girl for a few seconds and then gets up and to leave.

"Wait!" Kagome shout.

Hulk pauses and looks at Kagome, he growls when she takes a few steps closer to him. Kagome stops, places the picnic basket on the ground then backs away several feet.

"Take it, you must be hungry." She tells him.

Hulk turns around and walks toward her, never taking his green eyes off of her. He reaches down and picks up the basket. He sniffs it to make sure it safe, then tears the lid off. Inside there's enough food to feed at least three people. For some reason, Kagome had decided to pack a lot of food for her excursion out in the forest that day. Now she was grateful that she did, it may not be enough to fill him up but it may be enough to stave off starvation for a while. Hulk looks up at her and snorts, he takes the basket and heads back into the forest without a second look back.

"I'll take that as a thank you." Kagome says to herself.

Looking at her watch she notices the time and decides she's had enought nature for one day and heads back to the house,

"I'll come back tomorrow." Kagome tells herself, "After I go to the market for more food."

The next day after The shrine closes down for the day, Kagome's mom goes upstairs to take a shower and a nap leaving Kagome alone so that she can prepare more food for the green guy and bring it to him. Once she is finished, she packs it all up again and head out into the forest. following the same trail she did and seeing the path of destruction left by the green creature, Kagome easily finds him sitting in the grass staring at the trees. The creature turns and growls when he hears Kagome coming. She stops a few feet away from him and sets down another basket with food in it.

"I brought you more food."

The creature glares at her, but gets up. He walks over towards her and picks up the basket. Sniffing it to see if its safe, he takes the basket and walks away again. Then suddenly stops, he turns around and stares at Kagome.

"Hulk." He says as he points to himself.

"Hulk" Kagome repeats.

Hulk nods and and snorts then walks off into the forest.

Kagome sighs and heads back towards the house, she wonders if she'll ever get close enough to Hulk to figure out what happened to him.

In the meantime, Hulk goes deeper into the forest, he sits down and dumps the basket onto the ground, looking at the food he realizes that the food will never fill him up, but it is enough for Banner. So reluctantly he lets Banner come back, slowly Hulk shrinks back and Bruce appears. Bruce looks around disoriented clutching the torn pants to himself, he looks around to see that he's in the middle of a forest.

"This isn't Sokovia, Nat, Tony, Steve?" Bruce calls out, "Where the heck am I?"

Bruce looks down and see an array of sandwiches and a some bottles of water. without even thinking he lunges for the water and starts drinking. He knows its safe because the Other Guy would have known if it wasn't, so he's not worried. He picks up a sandwich and starts eating, then suddenly it occurs to him.

"Where did this food and water come from?"

In his head he hears Hulk provide the answer.

"Pretty pink girl."

An image flashes in his head of a beautiful Asian woman with stunning blue eyes, who is in fact glowing pink.

'Pretty pink girl, huh? Well you're right about that.' Bruce thinks.

In the back of his mind he hears Hulk rumble in contentment and peace. That was something new. Bruce had never felt the Other Guy other than angry. Bruce finishes the sandwiches and water then he stands up, clutching his pants he sighs.

"I need to figure out where I am, I need to get back to either Sokovia or New York. I need to get back to Nat."

At the thought of leaving Hulk roars, "NO!"

Bruce stops walking, "No what do you mean no, what about Nat?"

"NO, PRETTY PINK GIRL!" Hulk roars.

"What are you talking about?" Bruce asks, and continues to walk.

Realizing the Bruce wants to leave, Hulk surges forward and takes over, plunging Bruce into darkness again. 


	2. Identity Revealed

Kagome walks home after taking Hulk the food. The name he gave is very familar to her, she's heard it before but she can't remember where. Going into the house she sees a duffle bag on the floor and a pair of men's shoes in the corner. Smiling Kagome realizes that Souta has just arrived from college. Going upstairs to see her little brother, she pokes her head in his room to see if he's there. She gasps when she sees a poster on the wall.

It's a poster of the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America. But what really caught her eye was the last member of the Avengers, the green giant standing in the background. Her eyes widen at the sight, it's the same creature she found in the forest, Hulk.

Kagome was staring so intently at the poster, she didn't hear Souta coming down the hall.

"Hiya Sis." Souta says as he comes back to his room.

Kagome jumps, startled at the sound of his voice. Souta laughs and goes to his bed.

"Souta, who is that?"

"Oh, come on, Kagome, you've been back long enough from the Feudal Era to know about the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Souta says as he lies down on his bed.

Kagome rolls her eyes, "I know about the Avengers, Dork, I meant him, the green guy, what do you know about him?"

"Oh him, that Hulk, or more precisely Dr. Bruce Banner. A world renowned scientist who was highly respected for all his work in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and Gamma Radiation. He was working on trying to recreate Captain America's super soldier serum when he was blasted with high level of Gamma Radiation, causing him to turn into the Hulk. From what I understand he only turns when he's really angry."

"Maybe not." Kagome mumbles.

"What do you mean?" Souta asks.

Kagome sighs, "Souta, what would you say if I told you I think the Hulk is living in the Forest of Inuyasha right now?"

Souta bolts up right, "What?! How do you know that?"

"Because I ran into someone that looks a lot like him the other day when I went for a walk and I today I took him some food. So unless there are two beings like that in the world, the Hulk is residing in our forest."

"Cool, let me guess, you're going to help him."

"As best as I can, yes."

Souta gets up and goes to his closet, he pulls out a pair of pants, shirt, shoes and socks. He packs them all in a spare duffle bag and hands it to Kagome.

"Here, I think we're about the same size, take these to Dr. Banner when he shrinks back down."

"Thanks, Souta."

"You're welcome, Sis."

The next day, Kagome heads out into the forest again. She takes with her the duffle bag and more sandwiches and water for Hulk. Taking the same trail she took the last time, Kagome isn't surprised to find Hulk sitting under a tree. As if he's waiting for her, he looks up and grins at Kagome.

"Pretty Pink Girl." Hulk says.

Kagome looks at him and raises an eyebrow, "Pretty Pink Girl?" She repeats.

Hulk grin turns into a smile and he snorts in affirmation.

Kagome smiles at him, "Okay I can live with that, but really my name is Kagome."

Hulk gives her a puzzled look, "Gome?"

"Yeah, Kagome, but you can call me Gome if you want."

"NO, Pretty Pink Girl." Hulk insists.

Kagome giggles, "Or you can call me that. Now I brought you some more food and water. I also brought some clothes for you when you change back into Dr. Banner."

Hulk looks at her startled, Kagome only smiles at him and slowly moves closer.

"Yes, I know who you are Hulk, you and Dr. Banner."

Hulk snorts in disgust, "Puny Banner."

Kagome frowns and moves even closer. Hulk doesn't seem to mind, though, so Kagome decides to be bold and goes to sit right next to him.

"What's the matter Hulk, you don't like Dr. Banner."

"NO!" Hulk tells her.

"Why?"

"Banner, leave." Hulk tries to explain.

Kagome looks at him confused for a minute, then it dawns on her, "Oh Dr. Banner wants to leave."

Hulk nods.

And you don't, why?"

Hulk looks down at her and gently places a finger on her head. "Pretty Pink Girl."

Kagome blushes, "You don't want to leave because of me?" She asks.

Hulk nods.

"What about your friends, the Avengers?"

Hulk crosses his arms and shakes his head, "No Avengers, Pretty Pink Girl."

"Oh I see, you'd rather be with me than with them. Well, if that's how you feel, why don't you let me talk to Dr. Banner and try to convince him to stay, at least for a little while. Then while we talk, Dr. Banner can get something to eat and drink. I even brought clothes for him."

Hulk thinks about it for a moment, he grunts then nods.

"Great, I'll leave this bag here and go wait over there, so Dr. Banner isn't embarrassed."

Kagome leaves the duffle bag and walks away. Hulk takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He suddenly begins to shrink and Hulk turns back into Dr. Bruce Banner. Bruce opens his eyes and looks around, he's surprised to find himself in the same forest as before. Looking around he notices the basket of food and water again, but this time there's a duffle bag. Cautiously he scoots over toward the duffle bag, while still clutching his torn pants. Upon opening it, he's surprised to find clothes, shoes and socks that look like they might fit him. Quickly he gets dressed, looking around Bruce notices that there's no one around.

"Hello?" He calls out.

"Are you decent?" A female voice answers.

Bruce looks down at himself, "Um, yeah, you can come out now."

Kagome steps back into the clearing cautiously.

"I hope the clothes fit alright."

"No, the clothes fit fine. Who are you, where am I?" Bruce asks.

"My name is Kagome Higurashi and your in the forest on a shrine in Tokyo."

"Tokyo, the Other Guy brought me to Japan, how?" Bruce asks, mostly to himself.

"That, I don't know, all I know is Hulk was really upset when he attacked me -"

"He attacked you?! Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine, Dr. Banner, Hulk discovered I'm not like every other human he can push around."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, I can handle myself around him and he won't be trying to attack me ever again. Besides since that incident, he's become more comfortable around me."

Bruce really wasn't satisfied with her answer, but decided to drop it for the moment. He looks around and see the basket full of sandwiches and water, Bruce bends down to pick them up."

"You?"

Kagome gives him a radiant smile. "Well, I very well couldn't let you starve, now could I?"

Bruce blushes and dips his head, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, here why don't you sit down and have something to eat?"

Bruce takes her advice and goes to sit under a tree. Unwrapping one of the sandwiches, he begins to eat while Kagome opens the bottle of water for him. He thanks her and takes the water from her. Kagome then sits down next to him and waits for him to finish eating. As he eats, Bruce observes Kagome out of the corner of his eye. He can't help but notice how young and beautiful she is. With porceline skin, inky black hair and the most beautiful sapphire eyes he had ever seen. But it wasn't just that she was beautiful, sitting next to her, Bruce began to realize how at peace he and the Other Guy felt. He had never know such peace since his accident, maybe not even before. Bruce wasn't sure if it was the tranquil forest or the girl sitting next to him that was giving him such peace. All he knew was that he liked it.

Once he was finished, Kagome packed up all the trash and put it back in the basket.

"Now that you're finished, Dr. Banner, I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Please call me Bruce."

"In that case call me Kagome."

"Okay, Kagome, what do you want to talk about?"

"It's about Hulk. He told me a little while ago that you want to head back home."

"He told you that?" Bruce asks, amazed.

"Not in so many words but I got the gist. The thing is, Bruce, you may want to leave, but Hulk doesn't."

"Well it really isn't his choice, this is my body, my decision." Bruce informs her a little irritated.

Kagome gives Bruce a quizzical look, "You seem to be under the impression that you and Hulk are two different being inhabiting one body."

"That's because we are."

Kagome sighs, she was afraid of that. Just from Hulk's comment alone she got the feeling that they thought that they were two seperate beings, but with Bruce's comment, that just confirmed it.

Kagome takes Bruce's hand, "Bruce that couldn't be further from the truth, you and Hulk are two halves of the same coin."

"And how would you know that, Kagome?" Bruce says as he reluctantly pulls his hand out of Kagome's.

"Trust me, I have experience with that. Tell you what, why don't you come stay at our shrine for a little while. From what I heard on the news, you've had a trying experience recently. Stay for a while and let me help you and Hulk learn to get along."

Bruce thought that was an odd request, why would this stranger be willing to help him? What was she going to get out of it? He hadn't realized that he had asked that out loud.

"I don't get anything out of this, Bruce. I just want to help and see you and Hulk at peace. What have you got to lose? Just delay your return for a little while."

Bruce thought about it for a little while. What really did he have to lose? It's not like people were cheering for him to come home. Right now people were even more wary of him since the incident with Wanda Maximoff. And if he thought about it did he really want to go back to that right now?

'NO!' Hulk roared in his head.

Getting that response from the Other Guy, Bruce made up his mind.

"Alright, Kagome, I'll stay for a while. You're right what do have to lose?"

"Great, stay here for a little bit, let me go inform my family that you'll be staying with us and then I'll come back for you." Kagome tells him excitedly.

"Will there be a problem?"

"No, not at all, just give me some time to get everything set up."

Bruce nods and Kagome takes off back to the house.  



	3. Getting Bruce Settled

Kagome runs back to the house to inform her mom about Bruce. Seeing her mother sweeping the patio, Kagome runs up to her.

"Mom, I invited someone to stay with us for a while."

"I know, Dear, your brother explained to me that you met someone in the forest that you want to help. He told me everything, I think it's very kind of you to want to help and I have no objections. I already prepared your grandpa's old room for him."

"Thanks, Mom, you're the best." Kagome says as she kisses her mother on the cheek and goes back out to the forest.

She finds Bruce still sitting under the same tree. As she walks up to him, she takes in his physical appearance. He's in his mid 40's and is more or less about 5' 9" with an average build salt and pepper hair with warm brown eyes, with a mild manner about him. Though she finds that his aura is constantly under stress and anger, overall she find him very attractive.

Walking up to him she holds out her hand to help him up. "Okay Bruce everything has been arranged. You'll be staying with my mother and me at the Shrine. While you're there I'm going to teach you some techniques to help you with your stress and anger that will help you and Hulk get along better."

Bruce looks at her hand and hesitates, "Do you really think this is a good idea, I mean technically I'm in the country illegally. I don't want to get you and your family in trouble."

"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of everything." Kagome reassures him.

Bruce sighs and takes her hand. "Okay, lead the way."

Helping him stand, she leads the way back to the shrine. Upon breaking through the tree line, Bruce takes in the sight of the shrine. It's a simple little shrine, though very beautiful. Bruce had been in Japan before it was quite a while ago and it was when he was a fugitive, he never made it to Tokyo and he never visited any of the shrines. They were too much of a tourist attraction and he couldn't run the risk of being recognised. This shrine though didn't seem that busy. There were a few people around, mostly locals, he could see a woman tending to them in the distance.

"That's my mom." Kagome tells him.

Bruce nods.

"Come on I'm sure you'd like to freshen up a bit and maybe take a nap in a real bed."

"Yeah, I would, thank you, Kagome."

Kagome leads Bruce into the house and takes him inside. Going upstairs she show him to her the bedroom he'll be staying in.

"This used to be my grandpa's bedroom, he passed away a few years ago, so we use it as a spare now. The bathroom is down the hall, my little brother left you some more clothes in the drawer."

"Thank you, Kagome."

"No problem, Bruce."

Kagome then leaves and shuts the door. Bruce goes to the drawer and takes out a pair of sweat pants, a t-shirt, and some under clothes. He heads for the bathroom to take a shower. Getting in the shower he adjusts the water to where it's nice and warm and gets in. He sighs as the warm water begins to relax his muscles, while he washes he thinks about the girl that has offered to help him.

Aside from being beautiful, Bruce notes that she is unusually kind. He had never met anyone that would go out of their way to help a complete stranger the way Kagome was. He was actually considering himself very lucky to have met her. In his head he hears a rumble of contentment.

"Pretty Pink Girl, Kind." Hulk tells him.

'She sure is, Big Guy.' Bruce thinks.

Bruce can already tell that the Other Guy is very fond of Kagome, which he finds fascinating. He thought that the Other Guy liked Natasha, but apparently he likes Kagome a lot more. Feeling a bit drained after his shower, Bruce dries off, gets dressed and heads back to his new room to take a nap.

While Bruce is taking a nap, Kagome makes a phone call to Shippou.

"Hello?"

"Shippou?"

"Kagome, how are you, how is your weekend going?"

"It's going good, listen Shippou I need a favor."

"What do you need, mother?"

"Do you have any connections to anyone that can make a fake passport for me?"

"Of course, why are you planning on going on the run?"

"No, but I know someone who's in the country illegally."

"Oh no, Kagome, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in?"

Kagome then begins to explain to Shippou about finding Hulk in the forest and that he's actually Bruce Banner and that she convinced him to stay in Japan for a while.

"Mother, you do know that the Avengers are looking for this man?"

"I'm sure they are, but Hulk doesn't want to go back, and I can feel in their aura, Shippou, they're suffering. They both need help, they need to learn that they are one being. I can't sit by and watch someone suffer if I can help them."

Shippou chuckles, "Same old Kagome. Alright, get him here as soon as you can, I need to take his picture for his new passport, while I'm at it I'll get him a work visa too."

"Thank you, Shippou, I think he's taking a nap. I'll bring him once he wakes up."

"No problem, Kagome, once I take his picture I'll have his passport and work visa ready in a week. I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay, Shippou, bye."

Bruce wakes up two hours later, feeling refreshed. He gets up and heads downstairs, but he finds the house empty. Going outside he finds Kagome sitting under an enormous tree with her mother and who he assumes is her brother. Kagome smiles at him when she sees him come out of the house.

"Bruce, how are you how was your nap?"

"It was good, thank you for asking. I hadn't realized how tired I was."

"Let me introduce you to my mother and brother. Bruce this is my mother, Emiko Higurashi."

"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Bruce Banner."

"Nice to meet you as well, Bruce, welcome to our home." Emiko tells him.

"Thank you for having me." Bruce says as he shakes her hand.

"And this is my brother, Souta." Kagome tells him.

"Nice to meet you, Souta, thank you for the use of the clothes."

"You're welcome, Dr. Banner."

"Please, call me Bruce."

Well, Bruce, if you're feeling up to it I'd like to take you to see a friend of mine today." Kagome tells him.

Bruce gives her a questioning look.

"You see I thought about what you said about being in the country illegally and my friend has some connections. I asked him to get you a passport and a work visa just in case you'd like to get a job while you're here." Kagome explains.

"Oh, Kagome, you didn't have to do that." Bruce tells her.

"It's no trouble, Bruce, really. I'm happy to help in any way possible. But he needs to get a picture of you so he can get your passport done."

"Alright when do we leave?" Bruce asks.

"Just let me grab my purse and we'll go."

Kagome runs in the house, grabs her purse and keys and comes outside.

"Okay I'm ready."

She takes Bruce by the arm and leads him down the shrine steps. Bruce stiffens at first when she took his arm but then he relaxes into her touch. He doesn't understand it, everytime he has any type of physical contact with Kagome a wave of peace enters him.

They get to the bottom of the steps and Kagome hails a cab. She gives the driver Shippou's address and they head off, they arrive at a luxurious apartment building. They go inside and head to the penthouse, Kagome pulls out her key and opens the door.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Bruce asks.

"No, he's a family friend, that's why I have a key to his apartment." Kagome explains.

Bruce couldn't explain it but he felt a wave of relief knowing that this man was not her boyfriend, He actually felt the Other Guy sigh.

Going inside the apartment, Kagome calls out. "Shippou we're here."

Bruce looks around the elegantly decorated home and marvels. It has a old world feel to it with a modern flare, but is very warm and welcoming. He immediately feels quite comfortable, more so here than when he first moved into Stark Tower.

"Kagome, good, and you brought the Hulk." A man that Bruce can only assume is Shippou says.

"You know who I am?"

"Kagome explained to me, yes, but where are my manners? My mother would kill me, Shippou Nakamura, nice to meet you.

"Bruce Banner, nice to meet you as well."

"So Kagome tells me you'd like to hide out for a while."

"If it's possible, yes." Bruce tells him.

"Trust me, Dr. Banner, it's possible."

"Just Bruce, Mr. Nakamura."

"Please, call me Shippou. Getting you a passport and work visa won't be a problem, so you can stay in the country as long as you want. You'll be able to hide in plain sight here, Bruce, people here tend to mind their own business." Shippou explains.

"Thank you I truly appreciate your help."

"It's no trouble, now let's get started…

Once Shippou gets all he needs, Kagome takes Bruce to the mall so they can buy him some clothes and other personal items.

"You really don't have to do this, Kagome."

"I want to, Bruce, besides you can't borrow all of my brothers clothes." Kagome points out.

Once they finish shopping, Kagome takes Bruce out to eat. They sit in a tiny restaurant enjoying some ramen. As Bruce eats he contemplates the girl sitting across from him, finally his curiosity gets the better of him.

"Why are you helping me, Kagome?"

Kagome puts down her chopsticks and studies Bruce.

Kagome sighs, "Because I can see how much you and Hulk have suffered, how angry you are, how hurt and lonely you are. And I can't help but want to help you."

"I don't understand how do you know this?" Bruce asks.

Kagome looks around to see that the restaurant is mostly empty and there's no one near them, so she decides to explain.

"I can feel it in your aura. You see Bruce I'm what is know as a Miko."

"A Shrine Priestess, okay" Bruce nods.

"Yes, but I'm not like any ordinary priestess, I have powers, and one of those powers is the ability to sense auras and healing. I can sense the conflict between you and Hulk and I can sense how you and him are feeling. And I can't let you two suffer anymore, so please, Bruce, let me help you. Let me heal your pain."

Kagome was so sweet and so sincere, Bruce could tell that she honestly meant every word she said. He stared into her brilliant sapphire eyes and felt that he could lose himself in them. He suddenly turns away and sighs, there was only one answer.

"Okay."


	4. Healing A Broken Man

They arrive at the shrine just before the sun sets, Bruce marvels at the beauty of the shrine. The way the setting sun hits the building just right is awe inspiring the architecture of the building is so beautiful, he's surprised it isn't more popular with the tourists. But Bruce guesses that's a good thing for him.

"Tell me, Kagome, who is this Shrine dedicated to?"

"It's actually dedicated to the Shikon No Tama it's also has a reputation with the locals for being effective at dispelling bad omens from items or events, therefore on occasion there would be those who would visit it after traveling a great distance." She explains.

Bruce looks at her interested, "Tell me more about the Shikon No Tama, doesn't that mean Jewel of the Four Souls?"

Kagome looks at him surprised, "Yes it does, Bruce, very good."

Kagome then went on to explain the story of the Shikon Jewel, how it was formed, how Kikyo became it's protector and what happened between her, Inuyasha and Naraku. They ended up sitting under the Goshinboku tree, while she told Bruce the story. She told him of another priestess who's name was lost through the ages who ended up shattering the jewel, hunting for the pieces throughout Japan with a perverted Monk, a Demon Slayer, a fox Demon Child and of course the Hanyou, Inuyasha. Kagome went on to tell him how they recovered all the pieces and defeated the evil Naraku and sent him to Hell.

Bruce was so entranced and excited by the story he hadn't realized that he had taken Kagome's hand while she was telling it. When he noticed he instantly let go and blushes as does Kagome.

"Sorry, so what happened to the unknown priestess?"

"She simply vanished, nothing more was ever heard of her."

"That was an amazing story, thank you for sharing it with me."

"You're welcome, Bruce, though I think we should go inside, it's getting late. Tomorrow the shrine is closed so you and I have all day to work on some meditation techniques." Kagome tells him.

They go into the house with their shopping bags and head upstairs. Kagome goes to her room while Bruce goes to his. Before walking in they wish each other goodnight.

Bruce puts his new clothes away and changes into his pajama bottoms and t-shirt. Then he goes to the bathroom to do his nightly routine. Going back to his room he takes off his shirt and lies down on the bed. Turning off the light he settles down to go to bed. But as he lies there waiting for sleep to take him, his mind wanders to Natasha, and he wonders if she's even concerned for him at all.

Their relationship hadn't gotten very far, but he did care for her. He wonders if their relationship would have led anywhere if he had stayed, or were they just two lonely people sharing a moment. When sleep finally took him, Bruce ended up dreaming of Natasha.

The next day Bruce woke up early to the smell of coffee brewing, he quickly slipped on his t-shirt went to the bathroom to do his business, and then went downstairs. He finds Kagome making breakfast for just two people. Bruce gives her a questioning look.

Kagome smiles at him, "My mom and brother get up late on Sunday, so I thought you and I could have a nice quiet breakfast." She explains.

Hulk rumbles in contentment at the thought of being alone with Kagome, which strikes Bruce as odd.

"That would be very nice."

Kagome invites Bruce to sit while she serves him breakfast, she had learned the day before that Bruce was a vegetarian, but that he did eat fish and eggs so today she made him some eggs along with the traditional Japanese breakfast. Once Kagome serves herself, she and Bruce begin to eat.

"So, Bruce, in order for me to help you, I need to know you a little better. Would you mind telling me about yourself and about Hulk?"

Bruce hesitated for a minute, he didn't want to frighten Kagome, but he could see she was very interested in knowing about him. And for some reason Bruce felt this need to open up to her. So he told her everything about himself, things that he had never told another human being, not even Tony or Betty.

Bruce told her about his childhood about how his father was an abusive alcoholic and that he murdered his mother in front of him when he was a child. How he was picked on in school. Before he knew it, Kagome had come over to his side of the table and was hugging him. He stiffened at first then slowly melted into her embrace.

He went on to tell her how he found solace in studying and how he worked to get seven degrees. Then he told Kagome of his work with the military and the super soldier serum. And then his accident with the Gamma Radiation.

"And that's how Hulk was born."

Kagome studies Bruce for a long moment she begins to push her aura into him to see if what he think is true, but she doubts it. Kagome is of the opinion that Hulk has always been apart of Bruce, part of his personality that protects him when the stress or the pain is too much. Only now with the exposure to the Gamma Radiation, Hulk can now take form in the phyisical world. She decides that now is not the best time to tell him this, though.

Once Bruce finishes his story, and they finish breakfast, Kagome tells him to go upstairs and change into some comfortable clothes, and to bring an extra set with him, then meet her outside. Bruce does as she instructs, wondering why he should bring extra clothes. When he comes outside, Kagome has two mats a basket of food and some drinks.

"Here let me help you with that," Bruce offers.

"Thank you, I thought we could start our lesson in the forest, down by the river, I sometimes go there to meditate it's very peaceful."

They get to the river and Kagome puts down her basket and takes the mats from Bruce. Setting them up so they're facing each other, she invites Bruce to sit. They both sit down and Bruce notices how close they are to each other. They sit in the lotus position and stare at each other for a moment. Once again Bruce can't help observe how young and beautiful Kagome is. A picture of Natasha flashes in his head.

'No, Pretty Pink Girl!' Hulk responds and an image of Kagome smiling flashes in Bruce's head. Confused, Bruce decides to ignore Hulk.

"Okay so what are we doing?" Bruce asks.

"First we sit in the lotus position and then I want you to close your eyes, breath deeply and relax."

"You know I've done meditation before, it only helps to a point." Bruce informs her.

"Yes, but now you're going to do it with me, and you'll see the difference."

"Okay."

Bruce takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and begins to meditate. He slowly feels his body relax, suddenly he feels Kagome take both of his hands in hers.

"Okay Bruce, I'm going to start now, you're going to feel a warm sensation fill your body, but don't be afraid, it's just me."

Bruce nods and continues to meditate. While he's meditating, he feels his hands begin to warm up and tingle, the warmth and tingling sensation begins to spread through and with it a deep sense of peace and serenity. His heart rate begins to slow, while all the stress that he usually harbors begins to fade. He takes a deep breath and sighs.

"Are you calm, Bruce?"

He nods

"Do you feel at peace?" Kagome asks.

Again he nods.

"Good, now I want you to let go and let Hulk come out."

"What?!" Bruce asks almost panicked.

"It's alright, Bruce, Hulk would never hurt me, I need to help him as much as I need to help you."

Bruce starts pulling his hands away, but Kagome holds on to them firmly.

"It's alright, let him out."

Bruce is about to get up but suddenly Hulk surges forward, catching Bruce off guard, and Bruce sink into oblivion.

And at that instant Hulk is sitting there in front of Kagome. Kagome reaches out for Hulk's hands which he takes, she smiles at him.

"Hi." is all she says. 


	5. 5 Conversation With the Other Guy

Hulk smiles down at Kagome, gently removing his hand from her grasp he runs a finger down her cheek.

"Pretty Pink Girl."

Kagome blushes and giggles, "Handsome Green Guy." She tells him.

Hulk's smile turns into a cheeky grin when she calls him that. Kagome reaches again for his hand, but all she can hold is one of his fingers in each hand. She'll make due with what she can.

"Okay, I wanted you to be here so I can help you too, now do me a favor and close your eyes."

Hulk does exactly as Kagome tells him to do. He doesn't understand it, but he trusts her completely, even more than Banner. He seems to always be at odds with Banner, the only thing right now they agree on is that it's in their best interest to stay with Kagome.

So Hulk sits there quietly with his eyes closed, waiting, for what he doesn't know. Suddenly he feels a warmth spreading through him and all of his anger begins to fade.

"Now, Hulk, tell me why are you so angry?" Kagome asks in a gentle voice.

"Puny Banner." Hulk says.

"Bruce, why are you mad at Bruce?"

"Banner no let Hulk out. Hulk mad."

"Oh, so, Bruce keeps you locked up too long so you're mad when you come out."

Hulk snorts in confirmation.

"Hulk do you know why Bruce keeps you locked up?"

Hulk shrugs.

"He's afraid, he's afraid you're going to hurt someone if he lets you out, but I think I know of a solution. Hulk where is Bruce right now?"

"Banner sleeping."

"So then Bruce has no idea what is going on when you take over. I can see why he's afraid."

Kagome's coment hurts Hulk, he begins to sulk and pull away, but Kagome won't let him.

"Pretty Pink Girl scared of Hulk?"

"No, never, but I can see why Bruce is. He doesn't like not knowing what's going on, do you think you can let him see what's going on. Because I know you know what's going on with him."

Hulk gives her a sheepish smile, like he's just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Hulk thinks about it for a minute, "No, Puny Banner!"

"But, Hulk Bruce is a part of you, just like you're apart of him. It isn't fair that you can see what's going on with Bruce, but you won't let him see you." Kagome tries to reason with the gentle giant.

Hulk huffs, but he agrees.

"Now let Bruce come back, and give him these memories, I promise I'll see you again soon. Just let me talk to Bruce."

Hulk sighs, he caresses Kagome's cheek once more then lets Banner take over. He begins to shrink down and Kagome grabs a blanket she had set aside and covers Bruce.

Bruce groans when he sits up He takes the blanket and wraps it tighter around himself. Looking around, he spots Kagome who gives him a warm smile. Bruce's eyes widen and he begins to panic.

"Kagome are you alright did the Other Guy hurt you?"

Bruce looks around frantically trying to see the destruction the Other Guy has caused. Seeing the panic on his face, Kagome rushes to Bruce's side and takes his face in her hands.

"Bruce, Bruce, calm down everything is fine, I'm fine. Hulk didn't hurt me, you have nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about, the Other Guy broke through my defenses and took over! What if he does it all the time now, I won't be able to hold him back!"

Kagome doesn't know what to do. With each passing second, Bruce is becoming more hysterical. The only thing that occurs to her, is to push her powers into him and try to ease his stress. Letting her hands glow pink, Kagome begins to pour her Spiritual energy into Bruce.

Almost instantly Bruce begins to calm down. His body begins to relax, and the tension in his muscles eases away. Taking a deep breath Bruce lets it out slowly , feeling his heart rate go back to normal. He looks up at Kagome who smiles at him.

"You alright now?" She asks.

Bruce nods.

"Good, now, Hulk, give Bruce the memories of what happened."

Bruce is bombarded with the memories of everything that happened from the time he blacked out until he woke up. He sees how gentle Hulk is with Kagome, how fond he is of her. He listens to their conversation.

"You really think the Other Guy is handsome?" Bruce asks, feeling a twinge of jealousy.

Kagome blushes. "Well, yeah I do, but I think you're handsome too."

Bruce blushes at her comment. "So you and the Other Guy had a conversation, that's unusual."

"I don't see why, he's actually a lovely person." Kagome says a little defensive, "Once you get passed his rough exterior."

"I don't understand, how did you get him to give me the memories."

"I asked him, that's the only way we're going to get anything resolved. Now I'm going to give you a chance to get dressed and then we'll talk about your memories."

Kagome gets up and leaves, once she's out of sight Bruce grabs the extra clothes he brought and gets dressed. As he dresses he goes over the memories that Hulk gave him.

"Okay, Kagome, you can come back now."

Kagome comes back and takes a seat on the mat again. "Alright so let's discuss what we have learned. Bruce, you can't keep Hulk locked up all the time, it's not good for him and it's not good for you."

"I have to, Kagome, he'll go on a rampage it I don't."

"Look through the memories, what did he say?"

Bruce pauses, "That he's angry because I keep him locked up."

"Exactly, he's angry and frustrated and the only way he can express that is by being destructive, but if you let him out more so he can stretch his legs, so to speak, he won't be so angry. I mean he was perfectly calm with me."

"That's because he likes you, and you have a calming presence. What am I suppose to do when I go back to New York and the stress of everyday life get to me?"

"That's what we're going to work on. By the time we're through you and Hulk will be in sync and you'll be able to change without needing a trigger. You have to understand, Bruce, Hulk is a part of you. You and he are two sides of the same coin. Once you both accept that, things will be a lot easier for you."

Bruce was having a hard time with that concept. He wasn't willing to accept that the Other Guy was actually a part of him. But he was willing to go along with whatever Kagome was going to teach him if it would help him get the Other Guy under control.

Kagome studies Bruce's face, she can tell he isn't convinced, "Bruce, you have to try and grasp the fact that you two are one being. To be quite honest, I think Hulk has always been with you. It's just since you're accident he can now manifest himself in the real world."

"What are you saying that I had a split personality?" Bruce asks a little indignant.

"Is it so far fetched, with the trauma that you suffered, tell me did you suffer from black outs as a child, especially during the abuse of you and your mother?"

Bruce thought about it, he really didn't like thinking of his past, but for Kagome he would. And as he thought about it, he came to realize that, yes he did.

The look on his face was all the answer Kagome needed, she nods her head. "I think that's all for today, I have to go to work tomorrow, so what I want you to do is come out here and meditate. Try to get in touch with Hulk if you can, if not then just enjoy the tranquility of the shrine. When I get back we'll continue, now let's have some lunch."

Bruce agrees and they both enjoy a quiet lunch together.


	6. A Favor For a Favor

Kagome had already left for work by the time Bruce woke up. He gets up, does his morning routine, gets dressed and goes downstairs. Emiko has breakfast already waiting for him, Bruce blushes, but thanks her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Higurashi."

"You're welcome, Bruce, and please call me Emiko."

Bruce sits down with Emiko and enjoys his breakfast.

"I hope you don't mind have a perfect stranger in your house."

"Not at all, Bruce, I trust Kagome. She is an excellent judge of character, if she didn't think you were trustworthy, you wouldn't be here. Besides Kagome told me that you need help and it would go against everything she is not to help you."

"Has she always been like this?"

"Since she was 15 years old, Kagome has always had it in her to help others. It's just who she is."

"How old is Kagome?"

"She's 25 years old."

"Has she helped a lot of people?"

"Oh my, yes, I'm actually surprised she didn't become a doctor, instead of a businesswoman. But then again she does work for a company that does work for a medical company, at least part of it is."

Bruce is intrigued by the kind of work that Kagome does, he finds that pretty much anything that has to do with Kagome intrigues him and the Other Guy. He just doesn't understand why.

After breakfast and a nice conversation with Emiko, Bruce excuses himself and heads out into the forest to do his meditation. He takes with him the yoga mat and a bottle of water. Spreading the mat down out down by the river, Bruce takes a seat and begins his meditation. He really doesn't think he'll accomplish much without Kagome's help, but he's willing to give it a try.

Bruce meditated the whole morning, trying to see if he could get in touch with the Other Guy, but it was hard. Without Kagome as a medium between the two, he wasn't having much success. He decides to call it a day and head back to the house. When he gets there he sees that Emiko is in the storage room struggling to put away some items, Bruce rushes over to help.

"Emiko, let me give you hand."

"Oh no, Bruce, that's alright, I got it."

"Nonsense, I'm happy to help."

Bruce easily lifts the boxes and asks where she wants to put them, Emiko instructs him to put them on the top shelf in the storage shed. Once he was done, Emiko invites Bruce into the house for lunch. They have a nice lunch while Emiko tells embarrassing stories about Kagome when she was little, causing Bruce to laugh.

Meanwhile, at work, Kagome's ears are ringing and she sneezes.

'Someone must be talking about me.' She thinks but then continues on with her work.

At the shrine, Bruce tells Emiko that he would like to help out around the Shrine, she tells him it isn't necessary.

"I know it isn't, but it will make feel less of a burden to you and Kagome if I can help out," Bruce explains.

Emiko considers it for a moment and decides that it's fine with her. She gives him a few odd jobs to do around the shrine, basically just to keep him busy until Kagome returns.

At 4:00 Kagome returns home. She had finished her work early and decided that she would take the rest of the day off. She also put in for some vacation time with Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru thought it was odd, considering that the whole time she has worked for him she has never asked for time off. And because of that fact she had accumulated a month's worth of vacation time.

"Are you sure you want to take all of your vacation time now, Miko?" Sesshomaru asks.

"Yes, I have something that needs my full attention at the moment."

Sesshomaru raises an eyebrow, "This wouldn't have anything to do with the human you are harboring, would it?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Who do you think the Kit came to, to get the passport and work visa?" Sesshomaru says as he pulls an envelope out of his desk and tosses it on the desk.

Kagome takes the envelope and opens it. Looking at the documents she amazed at how authentic they look. She looks up at Sesshomaru surprised.

"Do not look so surprised, Miko, I have connections the Kit could only dream of, those documents are not false. Dr. Banner is here legally, so he has nothing to worry about."

Kagome gives him a suspicious look, "Why are you doing this?"

"Do not think I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart, once you have helped him control the beast I want him to come work for me in my research lab."

"How did you know-"

"Why else would you be helping him, Miko?"

Sesshomaru leans back in his chair, and temples his fingers, "Take as much time as you need to heal the beast within him, after that He will work for me for a year."

"I have to talk to him first, Sesshomaru, I can't make decisions for him."

Sesshomaru nods his head, then goes back to work on his computer. A clear sign of dismissal.

So Kagome went home, when she gets there she finds Bruce sweeping up the fallen leaves of the Goshinboku tree. She smiles when she sees him.

"Hello, Bruce!" She calls out as she makes her way over to him.

Bruce looks up and smiles and looks at his watch, "Kagome, you're home early."

"Yeah, I took care of everything I had to do as quickly as I could so that I could get back here and we could continue with our treatment. Did you meditate as I asked?"

"Yes, but it wasn't very successful, the Other Guy didn't speak once."

I really didn't expect him to, I just wanted you to be nice and relaxed. I see my mom put you to work."

"No, I volunteered, I don't want to be a burden so this is the least I can do."

Kagome gave him a sad smile, "Oh, Bruce, you aren't a burden, we're very happy to have you here, you don't have to work if you don't want to."

"But I do want to work, Kagome, that's the thing."

Kagome hums, then she remembers, "Oh speaking of work, I have your passport and work visa right here."

Bruce gives her a surprised look, "I thought your friend said it wouldn't be ready until the end of the week."

"Well, it turns out that Shippou went to my boss instead and Sesshomaru has better connections, so these documents are the real deal, Bruce, you are now legally in this country and can work anywhere you want," Kagome tells him as she hands him the passport and works visa.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep, the only thing is that Shippou had to explain to Sesshomaru who you are and from there he guessed why you were here."

"Okay," Bruce says a little suspicious.

"Well, you see Sesshomaru always expects something in return for his favors, so he wants you to come to do research for him at his medical facility when you have gotten control of yourself. He'll pay you very well, and you will have access to state of the art equipment."

"What do you mean when I've gotten control of myself?"

"See, Sesshomaru knows I'm a Miko, and he knows about Hulk, so he knows that I'm trying to help you and Hulk get along better. As a matter of fact, he has given me as much time as I need off to help you and Hulk. The only thing he asks in return is that you work for him for a year."

"That's it just research, he doesn't want the Other Guy?"

"Oh, Kami, no, Sesshomaru does need or want Hulk. To him, Hulk is of no use for medical research. I know you've been lied to before, Bruce, but I've known Sesshomaru for a very, very long time, his word is his bond If he says all he wants is medical research from you, that's all it is. If you want I can set up a meeting with him and you can decide for yourself."

Bruce thought for a moment, he did like the idea of doing research again and he did trust Kagome's judgment. But most of all he really wanted to spend as much time with Kagome as possible so that she could help him with the Other Guy. And if working for this Sesshomaru guy for a year was all it took, why not."

"Okay, Kagome, I'll meet Sesshomaru and see what he has to say."

"Great I'll set it up."  



	7. Making Progress

"We still have a little time before dinner, how about we go meditate for a while?"

Bruce readily agrees.

"Okay just let me go change and we'll head out."

Kagome gives Bruce a radiant smile and together they go into the house. Kagome goes up to her room and changes into her workout clothes, she then heads downstairs and grabs the yoga mats and some water. Meanwhile, Bruce also changes and makes his way downstairs, he takes the yoga mats from Kagome and they head out.

Upon arriving, they set up the yoga mats facing each other like they did the last time. Sitting down, Kagome instructs Bruce to give her his hands and to begin to meditate. Bruce closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, slowly he feels his body relax. While Bruce is relaxing, Kagome begins to push her spiritual powers into Bruce. She can feel that Hulk is restless and wants to come out. But slowly Kagome is able to calm down Hulk and make him relax.

Suddenly an idea occurs to her.

"Hulk, do you think you can come out without transforming?"

Bruce begins to panic, his eyes open and he stares at Kagome wide-eyed.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax, Bruce, I want to see something. I promise you'll remember everything. Just close your eyes and breath."

Bruce can't help but do as Kagome instructs. For some reason, he has a great deal of trust in this little woman. Closing his eyes, he begins to relax again.

Once Kagome feels that Bruce is totally relaxed again, she addresses Hulk again.

"Hulk do you think you can come out without transforming?"

In Bruce's head, Hulk thinks for a moment, He understands what the Pretty Pink Girl wants, but he's not sure he can do it. Hulk slowly begins to surge forward, but it's too much for him and he takes over completely and transforms, once again plunging Bruce into darkness.

Kagome smiles at Hulk, who is now sitting in front of her with a disappointed look on his face.

"Sorry." He tells her.

She pats his hands encouragingly, "That's alright, Hulk we just need to give it some time and with a little bit of practice, you'll be able to come out without transforming. In the meantime, how do feel, are you still angry?"

Hulk looks at Kagome and shakes his head.

"Good what has caused your anger to go away?"

Hulk smirks at Kagome, "Pretty Pink Girl."

Kagome blushes, "So I'm the reason you're no longer angry?"

Hulk grunts in confirmation.

"Well, I'm flattered."

"Hulk like Pretty Pink Girl," Hulk says as he runs a finger down Kagome's cheek.

"I like you too, Hulk," Kagome tells him.

Suddenly Hulk reaches out and picks up Kagome, she looks at him surprised but doesn't say anything. Hulk cradles her to his chest with one hand while stroking her back with a finger, he makes a rumbling noise of contentment. Kagome realizes that Hulk is hugging her, she leans her head against his chest and closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth radiating from his chest. After a while Hulk puts Kagome down and smiles at her. He likes the fact the Kagome isn't frightened of him in the least bit. He pats her on the head then lets Bruce take over again.

Shrinking back down, Bruce sits up and looks around, "What happened?"

Kagome blushes, "I, um think Hulk was flirting with me."

Bruce's eyes widen, "Really?"

"Yeah, I think he was, Hulk, give Bruce your memories."

Instantly, everything that transpired between Kagome and Hulk flashes in Bruce's mind. Bruce couldn't help but blush at Hulk's antics, he clears his throat and shyly looks at Kagome.

"My, it looks like the Other Guy is very affectionate towards you."

"Yeah, he is."

"And you don't mind?" Bruce asks.

"Why would I mind?" Kagome asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Because he's a dangerous monster."

"No he isn't Bruce, he's very sweet, he's just misunderstood, that's all."

Bruce couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the way Kagome was talking about the Other Guy.

"Besides," Kagome continues, "If I was trapped all the time I'd be angry too."

"So you're saying it's my fault that the Other Guy is always filled with rage?" Bruce asks getting a little defensive.

"Of course not, I'm not saying that at all, you didn't know that, that is what was making him angry. You were just trying to protect yourself and the people around you. But now that you do know his rage comes from being suppressed for so long, we need to work on having you two get along, and sharing your body."

"How do you mean?" Bruce asks.

Well, what I want to do is get you two to a point where Hulk can transform, but you'll still be present in his mind. And you need to have Hulk have control of your body without having to transform."

"Do you think we can do it."

"Yes, it's just a matter of trial and error and it will be easier once the two of you accept the fact that you two are the same person. Bruce, you do not have two souls living in the same body, though your soul is abnormally large. I'm not really all that surprised.

"How do you know?"

"As a priestess, I can see a person's aura and their soul and I can tell by your aura that you're a good person and that your soul is big enough to accommodate you and Hulk."

Bruce wasn't too convinced about the whole soul thing, but he wasn't about to argue with Kagome about it. He would just let it go for now.

"I think we've done enough for tonight, I brought you some shorts and a t-shirt just in case. So let me leave and you can change, then we'll head on back to the house for dinner. Tomorrow we can try again, only this time I'll start with Hulk and see if he can let you in his mind."

They went back to the house were Emiko had dinner waiting for them. Bruce went upstairs to quickly shower and change then he came downstairs to enjoy his meal with Kagome and Emiko. After dinner, Bruce volunteered to do the dishes while mother and daughter went into the living room to watch TV. When he was finished he joined them to watch a movie. Once it was over everyone went upstairs and went to bed.

The next day, Kagome was up early and had breakfast on the table ready for Bruce and Emiko. Once they had eaten Kagome packed two bento boxes and some water in a cooler then told Bruce to change into a pair of shorts and to bring extra clothes with him. Bruce does as she says then carries the yoga mats out into the forest. Once there Kagome tells Bruce to let Hulk come out.

When Hulk comes out he once again smiles at Kagome and caresses her cheek.

"Good morning, Hulk."

"Morning, 'Gome."

Kagome is surprised, "You said my name."

Hulk gives her a cheeky grin, "Like Pretty Pink Girl better."

"Well, you can call me either. Now today we're going to try and get you to let Bruce into your mind. Do you think you can do that?"

"Let Puny Banner out?" Hulk asks.

Kagome giggles, "Yes, let Bruce out."

Hulk grunts in affirmation.

"Okay let me take your fingers."

Kagome takes hold of Hulks fingers, slowly she pushes her spiritual energy into him, causing him to take deep calming breaths. Hulks eyes slowly start to close, little by little Hulk feels his mind begin to open and he feels another presence in his mind. Startled, Hulk gently pulls away from Kagome and stumbles back.

Kagome looks at him concerned, "Hulk, what's wrong?"

"Puny Banner in here," Hulk says as he points to his head.

"Kagome gets excited, "Can he see what's going on?"

Hulk nods.

Kagome stands up and rushes Hulk giving him a hug, "That's great, can Bruce speak?"

Hulk shakes his head no.

Well at least we know he can see what's going on, that's a start. Good job Hulk.

"Hulk smiles proudly. 


	8. A Little Push

A few weeks had gone by, and Bruce and Hulk were progressing nicely… well, Hulk was. Hulk was now able to transform without the need to get angry and he was able to let Bruce into his mind so that he could see what was going on. But Bruce was having a harder time relinquishing control of his body to the Other Guy. It was like Hulk accepted that they were the same person, but Bruce couldn't.

It probably had something to do with the fact that everytime Hulk transformed, he would play around, hug, and flirt with Kagome and Bruce was forced to watch. Bruce wouldn't say that he was jealous of the Other Guy, more like envious. Because while Kagome played around with Hulk, she was a little bit shyer around Bruce when they weren't working on his problem. She still spoke with him, but not with the same confidence she spoke with Hulk. Bruce was beginning to believe that Kagome likes the Other Guy more than him. Okay, so maybe he was a little jealous.

What Bruce didn't know was that Kagome had a huge crush on him, but Hulk did. Oh, Hulk knew perfectly well that Kagome liked him so he would show her how much he liked her too by being affectionate with her. But, he also had an ulterior motive. Hulk wanted Banner to realize that he had feelings for Kagome, and for him to give up this notion of being with Natasha.

It annoyed Hulk that Banner still thought of Natasha. Sure, Natasha was important to Hulk too at one point, but Kagome meant far and away much more to Hulk than Natasha ever could. Hulk couldn't understand why Banner's mind kept wandering back to Natasha when Kagome was right in from of him and was perfect for the both of them.

So, Hulk would make his flirting over the top sometimes to see if Banner would react and do something, but all Hulk ever heard was Banner sulking and beating himself up in his mind. Bruce felt conflicted, he liked Kagome, but still had this misplaced sense of loyalty towards Natasha. He also felt that he was too old for Kagome. He was, after all, 46 years old and Kagome was only 25. He was old enough to be her father. So he decided to leave well enough alone, much to the Other Guy's complaint.

Kagome, on the other hand, had no qualms about Bruce's age. After all, she once was in love 500-year-old Hanyou. What difference did 21 years make? The thing was, she didn't know how to approach Bruce. She knew that he often thought of someone else, Kagome heard him once mumble the name Natasha in his sleep when he first arrived. At the time she didn't think anything of it, but now it hurt her to think that maybe Bruce was in love with some woman. So Kagome decided that the best course of action would be to be friends with Bruce and see where it went from there.

One afternoon after another successful session with Hulk, not so much with Bruce, Kagome decided to maked her move.

"Hey, Bruce, how about after we shower and change you and I go to the movies, my treat."

Bruce hesitated for a minute, wringing his hands as he thought. Finally coming to a decision, "Sure, why not, it could be fun."

"Great, why don't you shower first and get ready, while I check to see what's playing," Kagome tells him.

"No, Kagome, you go ahead and go first, I'll see what's playing."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

Kagome agrees and goes upstairs to get ready. Meanwhile, Bruce looks online to see what's playing. He decides that they're either going to watch the latest James Bond movie on one called Heart of the Ocean with some actor named Chris Hemsworth who, for some reason, looks an awful lot like Thor. Personally, Bruce would rather see watch the Bond movie, but he'll let Kagome decide.

15 minutes later kagome comes out of the bathroom.

"Okay bathroom's free," She yells as she walks to her room in her robe and her hair wrapped in a towel.

Bruce gathers his things and heads for the shower. Meanwhile, Kagome is in her room, brushing and blow-drying her hair. She applies some make-up, a little bit of eyeshadow and eyeliner. Then she puts on a pair of black skinny jeans with a green blouse and applies some lip gloss. She puts on a pair of black ankle boots.

By the time she's finished, Bruce has already showered and changed and is waiting for her downstairs. He's standing nervously in the living room wringing his hand waiting for Kagome. Bruce doesn't know why he's so nervous, he just is. he sits down on the sofa and takes a deep breath.

"Get a hold of yourself, Banner, it's just a movie."

At that point he hears Kagome's door open, he stands up from the sofa and turns to face the stairs. Bruce's breath is caught in his throat when he sees Kagome coming down the stairs. She's a vision of loveliness and not for the first time he wishes he was 20 years younger. He is still convinced that Kagome could never be interested in an old man like him.

Kagome gives him a breath-taking smile when she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"So what movie did you want to see?"

Coming out of his stupor, Bruce answers.

"Uh, well, we could either see Heart of the Ocean or the latest James Bond movie," Bruce tells her.

"Ooh, let's watch the James Bond one, I've always loved those movies," Kagome informs him.

"I was hoping you were going to say that, I finally get to watch it with someone who won't criticize the hell out of it for being unrealistic."

Kagome laughs, making his heart flutter. She grabs a light sweater and they head out to the theatre. They walk down the shrine steps, then make their way towards the theatre. As they walk, Kagome takes hold of Bruce's arm, he stiffens at first, but then he relaxes and enjoys the walk. They walk in a comfortable silence with each one enjoying the other's presence.

Getting to the theatre, they buy some popcorn, and sodas then head in. And while watching the movie, Bruce notices Kagome shiver so he tentatively wraps his arm around her shoulder. When she doesn't say anything he goes back to watching the movie. Meanwhile, Kagome is squealing in her head, she is so excited to have Bruce's arm around her shoulders she doesn't know what to do. Kagome takes a deep breath and leaned into Bruce, hoping he won't rebuff her. Fortunately, he only seems to tense for a second, then settle back down.

2 hours and 40 minutes later they get out of the theatre.

"That was a good movie, I hope it's not Daniel Craig's last Bond film, he makes a great Bond." Kagome comments.

"Yeah he does," Bruce agrees.

"Hey, do you want to get some sushi, there's a restaurant close by," Kagome asks.

Bruce smiles at her, "Yeah, I could eat."

They head over to Sushi Kanesaka and have dinner. Once they have eaten their fill, they walk back to the shrine, Kagome still holding on to Bruce's arm.

Once they made it up the shrine steps, they go inside. Kagome turns to Bruce to tell him she had a wonderful time, but he speaks at the same time, they both laugh.

"I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to the movies, Kagome, I had a wonderful time," Bruce tells her.

"Yeah I did too, maybe we can do that more often," Kagome says.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

They stand there in awkward silence until Kagome throws caution to the wind and reaches up and kisses Bruces on the cheek, she blushes and runs upstairs.

"Goodnight Bruce." She calls out when she reaches her room and shuts the door.

Bruce stands there in shock, he places a hand on his cheek where Kagome kissed him and smiles.

"Goodnight Kagome.


	9. Bruce's New Job

Bruce stood there for a while longer contemplating the kiss on the cheek that Kagome had given him. Was it just a friendly kiss or did it mean something more? He slowly made his way upstairs, got ready for bed and went to sleep, that night was the first night he ever dreamt of Kagome.

But the next morning he was a little unsettled, he didn't know why he dreamt of Kagome, though it was a pleasant dream, it rattled him afterward. Did Bruce really see her more than just a friend?

'Banner like 'Gome.' Bruce heard the Other Guy speak up in his head.

'No, I don't,' Bruce thought back.

'Yes,' Hulk insisted

'No I don't,' Bruce countered.

'YES!' Hulk roared in his head, making Bruce wince.

"It doesn't matter if I see her that way or not, I'm too old for Kagome. She would never want to be with an old man like me."

It was the only excuse he could cling to so that he wouldn't get hurt. He couldn't use the Other Guy as an excuse anymore not to start a relationship, stating he was too dangerous. Bruce knew that now that was a lie, especially with Kagome. But all his self-doubt and his insecurities wouldn't let him even consider the possibility of him being happy, Bruce sighs and gets up from his bed.

Getting ready for the day, he heads downstairs to have breakfast. When he gets there Kagome greets him with a huge smile. He returned it with his own tentative smile.

"Good morning, Bruce," Kagome says.

"Good morning, Kagome, how did you sleep?"

Very well, thank you, and you?"

"The same," Bruce says.

"That's good, say I was wondering if you'd like to go to Taisho Industries to see where you'll be working, now that you have Hulk under control."

"Are you sure I should go now," Bruce asks a little uncertain.

"I don't see why not, you and Hulk get along great, your anxiety and stress level is non-existent now, you can handle it." Then Kagome thought for a moment, "Unless you feel like you're not ready."

Bruce thinks about it for a while, "I guess there's no harm in taking a look, I'd really like to see what your friend has set up for me."

"Okay then, let me call Sesshomaru and get something set up."

Kagome walks passed Bruce, then pauses, she thinks about kissing his cheek again but changes her mind. She doesn't want to push her luck. Instead, she runs upstairs and gets her phone, calling Sesshomaru, she explains to him that Bruce has gotten his anger issues under control and would at least for now like to see where he would work at the lab. There is a long pause.

"I shall have a car retrieve you and Dr. Banner in an hour, be sure you are ready, Miko, Shippou will accompany the two of you to the lab. The Kit will explain everything to him. Afterward, you will come here so I can meet him."

"Okay, Sesshomaru, we'll be ready."

Kagome goes back downstairs to Bruce who is enjoying his breakfast with Emiko.

"Okay, I talked to Sesshomaru, he's going to have a car here in an hour to take us to the lab, Shippou will join us to answer any question you may have."

Bruce nods, they finish their breakfast then head to their rooms to change into more appropriate attire. An hour later there's a knock at the door, Kagome answers the door and there stands Shippou.

"Good morning, Mother, "Shippou says in his deep baritone voice.

"Shh, not so loud, Bruce doesn't know anything about my past yet."

"Were you planning on telling him?" Shippou asks.

"It depends on how things work out."

Shippou smirks, "Oh, so you like the good Doctor."

Kagome blushes, "Yes I do."

"And how does his alter ego feel about you?"

"Oh from what I can tell, Hulk adores me."

"That's good, I hope it all works out for you, Kagome."

"I hope so too, but I get the feeling Bruce is a little hesitant."

"Why do you say that?"

"I can feel it in his aura, he's insecure and believes he's unworthy of being loved."

"I'm sure you can change his mind, mother," Shippou says as he hugs his mother.

At that point, Bruce comes down the stairs and sees them embracing, a wave of jealousy and longing washes over him, but he shakes his head and lets it go. Shippou looks up, seeing Dr. Banner, he lets go of his mother. He smiles at Bruce and approaches him

"Ah, Dr. Banner, it's good to see you again. I hope that you're doing well."

"Yes, Mr. Nakamura, I'm doing exceptionally well, Kagome has helped me out a lot," Bruce informs him.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that, well should we get going, the car is waiting."

Kagome and Bruce both agree and head out of the house, Kagome grabbing her purse before leaving. She takes hold of Bruce's arm again as they walk down the steps of the shrine, Shippou notices, and grins. Getting to the limousine, they get in and head downtown, to Taisho Industries.

When they arrive they go into the research building that is next to Taisho Industries, it's where all the medical research is done. Shippou hands Bruce his own personal key card so that he can get into the building. Riding the elevator up, Bruce begins to ask all sorts of questions.

"So what does Taisho Industries do?"

We have our hand in pretty much everything, from clean energy to bioengineering to cancer and AIDS research. Mostly we deal with medical research," Shippou explains.

"And what exactly does Mr. Taisho want me to do," Bruce asks.

"He wants you to work on the development of new drugs for cancer patients maybe even a cure. You will have all the resources you could possibly need, your own lab and staff that you can hire and fire at will. If that's not what you want to do, you can pick your field of study as long as it benefits Taisho Industries

With those words, the elevator door opens up to Bruce's own lab. He is in complete awe, all of the equipment is state of the art that could rival Tony's equipment. He gets out of the elevator and begins to look around.

While Bruce is looking around, Kagome steps next to Shippou to ask him something.

"Tell, me Shippou, why is Sesshomaru investing in cancer research and drug therapy considering that he hates humans."

Shippou softly chuckles, "You humans are always getting sick, he makes a great deal of money off of your illnesses. It would make him a fortune if his company finds the cure." Shippou whispers.

Then Shippou speaks louder, "All this equipment is at your disposal, Doctor, whenever you feel you can come to work. You will, of course, have to sign a non-disclosure contract about what you have seen here and what equipment we have, as none of it is available outside this company."

Bruce looks at Shippou and nods, "Yes, of course."

Kagome can already see the eagerness in his eyes to get started.

"Now, Dr. Banner, if you'll just follow me we'll go to my office and discuss your contract."

Kagome and Bruce follow Shippou back into the elevator, and down to the first floor, where Shippou uses his keycard to open a door that connects the two building. Taking yet another elevator, they head up to Shippou's office. Once they arrive, Shippou offers Kagome and Bruce a seat while he sits behind his desk. He begins to explain that he will be paid very well for his research, he will have a month's vacation paid, full medical benefits, not as he needs them. A company car and driver if he wants one. Use of Sesshomaru private island for vacation. A penthouse apartment in one of the buildings that Sesshomaru owns. He would also be to set his own hours.

Bruce was a little overwhelmed, he had no idea that they would offer him so much, but he was curious about one thing. "Do I have to accept the apartment right now?"

"No, of course not, Dr. Banner, the apartment will be available to you whenever you decide to take it. I understand that you are still working on your other issue with Kagome so that's not a problem. And the contract is only for one year, after that you are a free agent so to speak. But whatever progress you made in your research stays with us."

"That seems fair, when do you want me to start," Bruce asks.

"Whenever you feel ready to, oh and one more thing, there is a clause in everyone's contract that has any dealing with you not to reveal who you are or your location."

Bruce let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Shippou then slides the contract over to Bruce so he can read it. Bruce takes out his glasses and starts to read over the contract. Once he's finished and satisfied with the terms he signs it and hands it back to Shippou.

"Now let's go meet Sesshomaru," Shippou tells him.

They get up and cross the hall to Sesshomaru office, upon knocking, the door slowly opens.

"Sesshomaru, this is Dr. Bruce Banner," Shippou says as they enter the office.

Bruce enters a little timidly into the room when he spots a tall man with long black hair tied in a ponytail standing across the room staring out the window. The man turns around and Bruce sees that he has sharp aristocratic features and a frown upon his face.

"Dr. Banner, I have heard a great deal about you and your skills."

"I'm sure you have," Bruce says.

"If you are referring to your other half, I am completely uninterested in that. I am only interested in your genius. I assume you found the contract agreeable?"

"Yes, Mr. Taisho, it was most agreeable."

"Good, then I expect you to start working as soon as the Miko says you are under control, you may leave now."

With that Sesshomaru turns to gaze out the window once again. Kagome takes Bruce by the arm and pulls him out of Sesshomaru's office. Once they leave Shippou invites them both to a French restaurant for lunch.

Once they finish lunch, the car takes Bruce and Kagome back to the shrine and Shippou goes back to the office. They go into the house and go sit on the sofa. Kagome turns to Bruce.

"So what did you think of Sesshomaru?"

"Is he always so sunny," Bruce asks sarcastically.

"You'll get used to it, at least he spoke to you, normally he just nods."

Bruce laughs, "So when do you deem me fit to go to work?"

Kagome looks at him critically, "Honestly you can start tomorrow, if you want, Hulk is in complete control of himself, he knows not to come out unless there is real danger and not to go on a rampage if he does because you're in his mind to guide him. So if you want to start tomorrow, we can go to work tomorrow."

Bruce becomes excited at the thought of going to do what he loves best, and not having to worry about the Other Guy. He couldn't wait to get to work again.

"Okay tomorrow it is then," Bruce tells Kagome.

Kagome squeals and hugs Bruce, "I'm so happy for you, Bruce," Kagome says as she squeezes him tighter.

"Me too," Bruce says as he hugs her back, reveling in the feel of her in his arms.

'I am in so much trouble,' Bruce thinks. 


	10. First Day of Work

Bruce and Kagome had one more meditation session where Hulk was allowed to come out and play with Kagome for a while before they went to bed that night. Kagome explained to Hulk what was going on and that he should only come out if Bruce was in mortal danger and only to protect him, not to go on a rampage. Hulk agreed and, of course, Bruce heard everything. He was very happy that now he had better control over the Other Guy and that he could finally lead a semi-normal life.

Kagome did recommend that he not keep longer than normal business hours as far as in the lab. She was pretty sure that all the time that Bruce would spend cooped up in the lab also added to Hulks anger. Because he was trapped too long in Bruce's body. That was going to be a bit difficult for Bruce, considering that when he got involved with something he tended to forget about everything else.

"Don't worry, Bruce, I'll make sure you eat regularly and go home on time since you and I will be sharing a car home every night."

Bruce blushes, "What do you mean?"

"Well Tokyo is such a busy city, I normally have a driver take me to and from work, it saves me the stress of driving myself or taking the train. So I thought we would just share my car." Kagome explains.

"That would be just fine, Kagome, what time do I need to get up?"

"We need to leave by 6:00 to be there by 8:00, morning traffic can be brutal so I'd say around 5 am, though you can sleep in the car if you like."

Bruce agreed, once their plans her settled, they all had dinner and head for bed. By the time Bruce was up showered and changed, Kagome and Emiko were downstairs with breakfast ready.

"What time did you get up," Bruce asks.

"I got up at 4:30, my mom wanted to make sure we both had a good breakfast for our first day of work."

"That's very kind of you, Emiko, but you don't have to go through all that trouble."

"It's no trouble, now hurry and eat your breakfast, before you run out of time."

Kagome and Bruce sat down to breakfast with Emiko, when they were finished Kagome collected their plates and was going to do the dishes, but her mother told her to leave them. Once they were ready Kagome went upstairs and grabs her briefcase and a gift for Bruce. She smiles and heads downstairs.

Meeting Bruce at the door, they walk down the steps of the shrine together, with Kagome holding onto his arm. When they get to the bottom of the steps there is a driver already waiting for them. Bruce opens the door for Kagome and helps her get in, his eyes linger on her legs as she gets in. He clears his throat then gets into the car. Once they settle in and put their seatbelts on, the driver leaves. Kagome opens her briefcase and hands, Bruce, his gift.

"I got this for you when Sesshomaru first told me that he wanted to hire you."

"Oh, Kagome you didn't have to get me anything, you've given so much as it is."

"I wanted to, please accept it."

Bruce sighs and opens the gift, it's a black messenger bag with his initials on it when he opens the bag there is a nicely pressed white lab coat, with his name sewn above the pocket. He shakes out the coat and whatever wrinkles on it disappear.

"It's wrinkle-free, you never have to press it," Kagome explains.

"Thank you, Kagome, they're lovely gifts, I appreciate it."

What Kagome didn't tell him was that it was Youkai made so it was fireproof just in case. They sat in comfortable silence while the driver drove them through Tokyo. While Bruce stares out the window, Kagome starts to slowly fall asleep. She leans her head against Bruce's shoulder and begins to fall asleep. Bruce smiles at the sight of Kagome asleep on his shoulder, he wraps an arm around her and holds her tight. Feeling at peace he lays his head on Kagome's and closes his eyes, falling into a light slumber.

Bruce wakes up when he feels the car come to a stop. Looking around, he notices that they have already arrived at Taisho Industries. He shakes Kagome awake as the driver opens the door for them, getting out of the car, he offers his hand to Kagome to help her out. Kagome smiles at Bruce and gives him her thanks.

She ends up going with him to his lab since they arrived early. When they go into Bruce's office, Bruce notices a stack of files of potential employees to come work in his lab. He begins to go through some of the candidates, most of whom are already employed with Taisho Industries, though there are a few from outside the company.

"Well, I guess the first thing I need to do is hire a staff, I noticed that a lot of the potential employees already work for the company."

"Yes, we try to promote inside the company first, and then go outside. And working with you, Bruce is a big promotion for anyone you pick."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, you are held in the highest regards by a lot of people in this region and not because you're an Avenger."

Bruce blushes at Kagome's comment.

Kagome looks at her watch, and sighs, "Well I'll let you get to work on your screening, would you like to have lunch with me today," Kagome asks.

"Yes, of course," Bruce tells her.

"Great I'll be by at noon, then. Have a great day, Bruce, and if you need anything give me a call. Oh, I got you a cell phone too, it's in the bag. My number is already programmed into it along with Shippou's and Sesshomaru's just in case."

"Thank you, Kagome, but you didn't have to."

"Bruce I wanted to," Kagome says as she hugs him.

"See you at lunch."

With that, Kagome leaves Bruce's lab and he gets to work looking over the files. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even notice the time when Kagome comes back into his office carrying her purse. He looks up and takes off his glasses.

"Did you forget something, Kagome?"

Kagome giggled, "Oh Bruce, it's noon already, time for lunch."

He looks at his watch, amazed that time has flown by, he gives Kagome a sheepish smile and takes off his lab coat.

"Sorry, time sort of got away from me."

"I noticed, come on I made reservations at an Indian restaurant down the street, we can walk there."

"Lead the way."

Kagome takes Bruce by the hand and leads him out of the building. Once they get to the street, She takes his arm and they walk to the Indian restaurant. They have a nice lunch and Bruce tells her about all the potential employees he's going to hire. She smiles at the excitement in his eyes and lays a hand on his while he's talking. Bruce looks down at their hand but doesn't remove his hand. He actually enjoys the feel of her hand on his. The Other Guy purrs in his head at the feel of Kagome's hand on his.

Once lunch was over, they head back to the office, each going their separate ways. Bruce continues to go through the candidates he deems fit to come work for him, then he sets up the interview time with these people. The next day he would start the interview process. Once he finished that, he started to calibrate the equipment he was going to be working with and getting to know the new technology. Before he knew it, it was 6:00 and Kagome was back in the lab to take him home.

When they got home, the quick change and head out into the forest to do their nightly meditation session and give Hulk a chance to stretch his legs. But there is something different about hulk that evening. Bruce tried to get into Hulks head but Hulk wouldn't let him, so Bruce was trapped only getting bit and pieces of what was going on. Hulk sat across from Kagome, then reaches out to pick her up. He cradles her in his arms and smells her hair. Kagome smiles and hugs Hulk back.

"My why are you so affectionate today?"

"Hulk miss 'Gome."

"You saw me yesterday."

Hulk shrugs, then he gets this cheeky look in his eyes and sets Kagome down. Kagome looks at Hulk and raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

Hulk grins at her, "Hulk know something."

"What is it a secret?"

Hulk nods.

"What is it, Hulk," Kagome asks, wanting to laugh at the look on Hulk's face.

Hulk leans forward and gets close to Kagome's ear, "Puny Banner like 'Gome."

"Oh well, I like him too."

"Hulk shakes his head, "Banner want mate 'Gome."

Kagome turns bright red, "What?"

"Banner want 'Gome for mate."

Kagome's mouth falls open, "Are you sure?"

Hulk grunts and nods his head.

"Oh, my Kami." Was all that Kagome could say. 


	11. The Long Awaited Kiss

Kagome was stunned silent, she couldn't believe that Bruce liked her like that. She had been hoping that he did, but it was still a shock to have it confirmed by Hulk. And what did he mean that Bruce wanted to have her as his mate? Did he mean that Bruce wanted to go out with her, and more importantly how did Hulk know that anyway?

"Hulk, how do you know that Bruce wants me as his mate?"

Hulk gave her another cheeky grin and shrugs.

Kagome narrows her eyes at Hulk, "You're just teasing me aren't you?"

His grin becomes wider, but he shakes his head no.

Kagome shakes her head, "Well let's not talk about that right now, how about we play a game?"

Hulk nods, so Kagome shows him how to play hide and seek, which really wasn't fair considering that Hulk could smell wherever Kagome hid, but he enjoyed it anyway. After about an hour, Kagome asks him to let Bruce come back and to give him the memories of what happened. But Hulk was a sneaky fellow, he only gave Bruce the memories of them playing, not the memories of the conversation they had. So when Bruce came to and saw what had happened he thought it was cute that they played hide and seek, though he did feel a twinge of jealousy at seeing Hulk hugging Kagome. After that, Kagome hands Bruce some clothes and leaves the clearing so he can get dressed. He calls for her to come back once he's dressed and they walk back to the house together to go have dinner and go to bed.

The next day when they got to work, Bruce went straight away into interviewing potential lab associates to assist him in his research. The interviews were long and in-depth, Bruce was being as thorough as he possibly could. Of course, at noon Kagome came to get him for lunch. They had a lovely time, he told her how his interviews were going and that he was slowly narrowing the field down as to how many employees he wanted in his lab. She told him about the business meetings she was having with several companies about looking into more clean energy for Japan.

"You know you should really talk to Pepper Potts about partnering with Stark Industries, they were the only ones looking into clean energy when I was living with them." Bruce states.

"Oh we are, Sesshomaru has an office in New York as well, Shippou will be leaving soon to have a meeting with Ms. Potts about that. And don't worry, Bruce, we know about Mr. Starks habit of hacking into other company's to get information, he's been trying to for years to do that to us but can't. So he won't find out about you being here."

Bruce visibly relaxes, "Thank goodness."

They finish up their lunch and head back to the office where Bruce continues on with his interviews. He ends up hiring 15 scientists, setting them up at their own workstations and getting the research he wants to do organized so he can start the next day. After setting everything up it was time to go home.

And that's how it went, every day, Kagome and Bruce would go to work together. Bruce would through himself into his research for new cancer treatment or a cure. Every afternoon Kagome would come and retrieve Bruce for lunch and every evening at 6:00 she would come to get him to take him home, though sometimes he would protest. Then they would get home, head out to the forest and try to get Bruce to let Hulk into his mind. Sometimes Hulk would get a glimpse but it wouldn't last long. Most of the time their time in the forest resulted in Hulk coming out to play around with Kagome. They never talked about what Hulk had mentioned again.

On the weekends, Kagome and Bruce would go out together, they would go shopping for more clothes for Bruce, or to the movies or see Kabuki theatre. Sometimes they would go to the shrines, or the local gardens, the point was they would always spend time together. It got to the point that when they walked around they would hold hands and not even realize it they were just that comfortable with each other.

That all came to head six months later when Kagome and Bruce were sitting under the Goshinboku tree, drinking tea staring at the sky. The stars weren't that clear, but they could still be seen pretty well, and there was a beautiful full moon out. They had been sitting there enjoying each others company when Kagome places her head on Bruce's shoulder. He wraps his arm around her and she sighs.

"This is nice," she says.

"Yeah, it is."

"It's so peaceful and beautiful."

Bruce looks down at Kagome who is staring at the moon. He can't help but think how beautiful she looks being bathed in the moonlight, how her sapphire eyes twinkle like stars. Bruce couldn't help himself, he reaches out with his thumb and strokes Kagome's cheek. She looks at him with hopeful eyes as he tilts her head up and lowers his head to capture her lips.

The kiss starts off gentle and sweet, but slowly Kagome wrapped her arms around Bruce's neck and pulled him closer. At the same time, Bruce snakes his arms around Kagome's waist and holds her tighter. Kagome runs her fingers through Bruce's hair, while Bruce caresses her back. Suddenly Bruce breaks the kiss, he stands up and backs away from Kagome, and begins to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Kagome, I shouldn't have done that."

"Bruce, it's okay," Kagome tells him.

"No it isn't, I shouldn't be taking advantage of you like that," Bruce says as he runs his fingers through his hair.

"Bruce you were not taking advantage of me, I wanted that kiss as much as you did."

But Bruce isn't listening, He rambling on about how sorry he was that he didn't mean anything by it.

"I'm sorry, Kagome, but I need to get out of here for a while," Bruce tells her as he walks away from her and heads down the steps of the shrine disappearing into the night.

Kagome just stood there and stared at the direction that Bruce had gone. She was heartbroken that he said that he didn't mean it. She had honestly thought that they had a connection, but maybe she was wrong.

Bruce wandered around all night berating himself for his actions. He had a wonderful friendship with Kagome and he may have just ruined it with that stupid kiss. But he couldn't help himself, She was just so beautiful and kind, he had never met anyone like her in his life. And when she looked up at him with those adoring eyes, he had to act. But he knew nothing could come of it, he was too old for her, she would never want to be seen with an old man like him. Maybe it was time for him to get an apartment of his own. At the mere thought of that, Hulk growled in protest.

'NO LEAVE 'GOME!' Hulk practically screamed in his head.

Bruce didn't want to leave, but he didn't want to see the resentment or worse the disgust in Kagome's eyes when he got back to the shrine. He felt like a coward, running from his problems instead of taking them out first, but he felt this was for the best. With his decision made he decides to head back to the shrine and pack his bags, tomorrow he would get his own apartment.

It was late by the time he arrived at the shrine, he took his key out and unlocked the door to the house and stepped inside. As quietly as possible Bruce began to make his way toward the stairs, then he heard a voice in the dark called out.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Bruce spun around, gazing into the dark living room, he tried to make out the figure that was sitting on the couch.

"Kagome?"

"Yes, Bruce, it's me. What are you doing sneaking into the house?"

"I, I didn't want to wake anyone," Bruce tells her lamely.

"Or you were trying to avoid me, Bruce, I think we need to talk about what happened earlier," Kagome says as she switches on the light.

Bruce sighs, "Kagome, I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable with that kiss. I don't know what go into me, but I promise it will never happen again."

Kagome pulls the cover off her lap and stands up, "And why would you think I wouldn't want it to happen again? I enjoyed that kiss as much as you did, Bruce, I don't know what gave you the idea that I didn't. As a matter of fact, I've been wanting to kiss you for some time now."

Bruce's mouth falls open, he stares at Kagome in utter disbelief, he couldn't believe that this beautiful woman wanted to kiss him.

"Why?" Bruce asks.

Kagome moves closer to Bruce, she takes his hand in hers and looks up at him, "Because I like you, Bruce, I find you very attractive, She says with a blush, "And if you'll have me, I'd like to be with you."

Bruce couldn't believe what he was hearing, Kagome wanted to be with him. This young woman who could have anyone she wanted wants him. Happiness began to spread through his chest and just like that the cold slap of reality hit home. He pulls his hand out of Kagome's and shakes his head.

"I can't Kagome, I can't be with you, it's not fair," Bruce says sadly.

"What?"

"I can't be with you, I'm too old for you."

Kagome stares at Bruce for a full minute contemplating what he just said then she starts laughing. Bruce gives her an odd look as she doubles over and covers her mouth so not to wake her mother.

Once she controls herself a little she gasps and kisses Bruce, "Oh Bruce you dear, sweet, lovable, completely clueless man, you're not too old for me. I used to be in love with a 500-year-old Hanyou when I was a teenager, 21 years is no big deal after that."

Bruce looks at her as if she was crazy, "You were in love with a 500-year-old half demon, how is that possible?"

"Come and sit down and I'll explain," Kagome says as she leads him into the living room.


	12. The Happy New Couple

**INYUSHA AND THE AVENGERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS I'M JUST BORROWING THEM.**

Kagome and Bruce sat down on the sofa, she took his hands in hers and look deep into his eyes.

"What I'm about to tell you is kind of hard to believe, but I swear, Bruce, that I'm telling you the truth. When I was 15 years old something incredible happened to me, it all started when Souta lost Buyo in the wellhouse…"

Kagome went on to tell Bruce everything that happened, from the minute Mistress Centipede, grabbed her to the minute the Jewel was wished away. She told him everything about Inuyasha, about how much she loved him but in the end, he chose Kikyo of her and went to hell with her. It took several hours for Kagome to tell her story and the whole time Bruce sat there in utter silence. When she was finished, she sat there and waited for Bruce to say something. He sat there for several minutes with an astonished look on his face, he finally took a deep breath and sighed.

"You're not joking are you?"

Kagome shook her head, "No, Bruce, it's not a joke, as a matter of fact, I have pictures, hold on."

Kagome went upstairs and grabbed her photo album, she came downstairs and sat down next to Bruce. She opened the photo album to the first page and then placed it in his lap.

"See this is my Feudal Era family. This is Sango the Demon Exterminator, Miroku the monk, Inuyasha, Kouga, Ginta and Hakaku, from the Eastern Wolf Demon tribe, this is Shippou-"

"Wait, as in Shippou from the office Shippou," Bruce asked.

Kagome smiled at him and nodded, "Yep that's my little boy, I adopted Shippou after his father had been slaughter by the Thunder Brothers, but after I came back to the modern era, Sesshomaru raised him."

"Sesshomaru Taisho?"

"The very same one," Kagome turned the page and showed him a picture of what Sesshomaru looked like during the Feudal Era, "See this is him back then and this is him in his turn form."

She pointed at the picture of the giant dog.

"You're joking."

"Nope," Kagome said with a giggle.

"This is unbelievable," Bruce tells Kagome.

"Well, believe it."

Bruce sets the photo album down on the coffee table and turns to Kagome, he chuckles then rubs his face.

"Well, at least now I don't feel like a cradle robber, considering that you were in love with a guy 500 years older than you."

Kagome giggles and slaps his arm playfully, "I'm glad you don't, now would you like to continue where we left off?"

"Oh, definitely,"

Bruce leans in and captures Kagome's lips. He places his hands on her waist as he deepens the kiss and lifts her onto his lap so she's straddling him. Kagome wraps her arms around his neck as he licks her bottom lip asking for entrance. She opens her mouth and lets him explore her mouth and caress her tongue. They eventually break away for much-needed air and Bruce places his forehead against hers.

"Wow," Kagome whisper.

"You can say that again."

"Wow," Kagome says and Bruce chuckles.

Bruce wraps his arms around Kagome and holds her close, "So I guess this means we're together."

"I would hope so, I mean I don't go around making out with men who are not my boyfriend," Kagome tells him.

"Oh, then I am definitely your man," Bruce tells her and Hulk rumbles in his head.

"Mate."

Bruce couldn't help but agree with him, there was no way he was letting Kagome get away from him now. They stayed in that position for another half hour until Bruce realized that Kagome had fallen asleep against him. He smiled and stood up, cradling her in his arms Bruce walked up the stairs and put Kagome to bed. He covered her up and kissed her forehead then went to his room and got ready for bed. Bruce laid down and put his hands behind his head, he couldn't believe how this night had gone. He thought for sure he was going to lose Kagome, but everything ended up working out perfectly. Bruce smiled and closed his eyes, he drifted off to the sound of Hulk rumbling in contentment.

The next morning, Bruce got up to the smell of breakfast being made. He gathered his clothes and headed for the shower. Once he was dressed he headed downstairs where he found Kagome cooking breakfast. Bruce smiled and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. Kagome smiled and turned around in his arms. She wrapped her arm around his neck and leaned up to kiss him on the lips.

"Good morning, my beauty."

"Good morning, Handsome, would you like some breakfast?"

"Could I have another kiss first?"

"Of course," Kagome tells Bruce with a smile.

They lean in and start making out, then they suddenly hear from the doorway..."

"I knew it, Emiko says with a smile.

Surprised, Kagome and Bruce jump apart, Bruce and Kagome are both bright red. Bruce clears his throat and pats his hair down from where Kagome had tangled her fingers in it.

"Emiko, we didn't hear you."

"No, I wouldn't think you would, judging from that kiss," Emiko tells Bruce with a giggle.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't apologize, Bruce, I've been waiting months for you two to get together."

Bruce and Kagome look at each other, "You have?" They say at the same time.

"Of course, I could see the mutual attraction between the two of you almost from the beginning."

"You don't mind that I'm older than Kagome," Bruce asked.

"Oh, please, Bruce, Inuyasha was far older, and I didn't mind, but I never thought he was the right person for Kagome. There was just something missing between them, I knew they cared about each other but it wasn't enough. You two are different, I could tell from the moment Kagome brought you home that there was something special about you aside from the Hulk. I knew you would be able to make her happy, Bruce, and judging by the look on her face I was right."

"Thank you, Emiko."

"You're welcome, Bruce, now why don't you let me handle breakfast, Kagome, you and Bruce can set the table."

"Okay, Mom, and thank you."

"You're welcome, Kagome Dear, I just want you to be happy."

"I am, I love you, Mom."

"I love you too."

After breakfast, Bruce and Kagome went out into the forest so that they could let Hulk out and they could see if Hulk would let Bruce into his mind. They sat across from each other and held hands, Bruce took a deep breath and let Hulk take over. Instantly Bruce transformed into the Hulk. Hulk shook his head then looked at Kagome and smiled.

"'GOME BANNER'S MATE," He tells her.

Kagome blushes and smiles at Hulk, "I hope so Hulk," she tells him as she takes his hand, "Will you let Bruce into your mind?"

Hulk thinks about it, then nods. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he opens them he smiles at Kagome.

"Bruce?"

Hulk only nods.

Kagome squeals and jumps up to hug Hulk, "Good job, Hulk now Bruce can help you if you ever have to go into battle.

Hulk's brow furrows, "Banner help Hulk?"

"Yes, of course, you two can talk to each other now, he'll help you make the right decisions when you have problems," Kagome tells Hulk.

Hulk smiles then closes his eyes, suddenly he shrinks down back to Bruce. Kagome is startled at first, normally Hulk wants to spend more time with her. She finds it odd that he suddenly changed back. Kagome quickly gets up and grabs a blanket to cover Bruce. Bruce opens his eyes and smiles at Kagome.

"Bruce, what happened?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, let me get dressed first."

Kagome hands him a pair of pants then turns around. She stands there for a few minutes then she feels a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. Bruce begins to nibble on her neck causing Kagome to moan. He twirls her around and kisses her passionately. Kagome runs her fingers through Bruce's salt and pepper hair and gives him a light tug causing him to growl. Kagome suddenly pulled away from Bruce.

"Not that I mind, but why did Hulk let you come back so soon?"

Bruce grinned at Kagome, "Hulk wants us to and I quote, 'go play.' So let's go play.

Kagome giggles and hugs Bruce, "What do you want to go play?"

"How about we take this blanket, go down to the stream, lay it out and lay out under the trees for a while?"

"That's it?"

"Oh, well, we could make out if you want," Bruce says with a cheeky grin.

"Now that's my idea of playing, Dr. Banner."

"Good mine too, come on let's go."

Bruce takes Kagome by the hand and they stroll off towards the stream.


	13. Happiness

**INUYASHA AND THE AVENGERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, I'M JUST BORROWING THEM.**

Bruce and Kagome the rest of the morning lying on the blanket making out, cuddling and talking. Afterward, they went out for lunch and then to a movie. When they got home Emiko was sitting in the living room watching TV, she smiled as she saw the happy couple come into the house. With a kiss, Kagome sent Bruce upstairs so he could take a nap while she prepared dinner. They had a lovely dinner then spent the remainder of the evening cuddled on the sofa watching TV with Emiko.

The next day when they went to work, the change in them was obvious. Everyone could see just how happy they were, Even Sesshomaru noticed. He walked into Kagome's office and sat down in the chair across from her, he studied her for a moment before he said anything.

"You have changed, Miko, I would wager that it has something to do with Dr. Banner."

Kagome looked up from her work and blushed, "You would be correct, Sesshomaru, Bruce and I are now dating."

Sesshomaru raised an elegant eyebrow, "I am not surprised, I could smell the attraction between the two of you, it was only a matter of time."

Kagome's blushed deepened, "It was a little difficult at first, he actually thought he was too old for me until I explained to him about Inuyasha."

"I'm sure that led to you telling him about your adventure in the past."

"Yes."

Sesshomaru didn't say anything after that, he simply grunted and stood up, "I am happy for you, imouto."

Thank you, Nii-san, I appreciate that."

And with that, Sesshomaru left Kagome's office, but he wasn't finished, he decided that he needed to speak to Bruce about his relationship with Kagome and about the information he had learned. Sesshomaru went to the lab where he found Bruce hard at work, everyone else in the lab immediately bowed to Sesshomaru, showing their respect, but Bruce was so caught up in his research that he simply had not noticed the Daiyoukai enter. Suddenly Hulk alerted Bruce to Sesshomaru's presence and Bruce turned around.

"Oh, Sesshomaru, I'm sorry I didn't notice you earlier, I was caught up in my work."

Sesshomaru said nothing at first, he just looked at Bruce. Then he suddenly turned around and began to walk away, without looking back he told Bruce."

"We must speak."

Instantly, Bruce followed Sesshomaru out of the lab and up to his office. Sesshomaru sits behind his desk, he motions for Bruce to take a seat. Bruce sits down and Sesshomaru stares at him for a few minutes, making Bruce nervous.

"The Miko has informed me that you two are involved and that she has told you about her past."

Bruce finally catches on to what Sesshomaru was alluding to, "Yes she told me of her past and the role you and her other friends played in it. And I can assure you that your secret is safe with me."

"Hn is it," Sesshomaru asks.

"Yes, of course, I would never betray Kagome's trust or yours."

Sesshomaru studies Bruce for a moment, then gives a curt nod, "Fine I believe you, but know this, Banner, if you hurt Kagome I will make you suffer in such a way that not even your alter ego will save you. You will long for death long before it arrives."

Both Hulk and Bruce shuttered at the thought, Hulk was pretty sure he couldn't take on Sesshomaru and live. He may be rash sometimes but he wasn't stupid.

"Has This Sesshomaru made himself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good, you may go now."

Bruce didn't have to be told twice, he stood up bowed to Sesshomaru and quickly left his office. He decided since he was in the building that he would go visit Kagome, so he made his way up to her office. When he arrived Kagome's receptionist greeted him warmly and announced his arrival. Bruce thanked her and went into Kagome's office. Kagome looked up from her stack of paperwork and beamed at Bruce.

"Bruce, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked as she got up came around the desk and gave Bruce a kiss. Bruce wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly.

"Sesshomaru came down to the lab today, he wanted to talk to me about our relationship."

"Ah, I see, and of course he threatened you."

"Yes, so well that he even intimidated Hulk," Bruce says with a sigh.

"I'm not surprised, after all, Sesshomaru's name literally means Destruction of Life."

"You're joking."

"Nope, and he has lived up to that name. Back in the Feudal Era, Sesshomaru used to destroy armies just because they were in his way."

Bruce's eyebrows raise, "Wow, he's really that powerful?"

"He can make an acid whip with his fingers and use it to split people in half."

"Remind me to never get on his bad side."

Kagome giggled, "He may not have said it, Bruce, but Sesshomaru does like you."

"If you say so, Kagome. Well, I think I should head back to the lab, will I see you for lunch?"

"Of course, I'll come get you," Kagome tells Bruce as she walks him to the elevator.

The elevator doors open and Bruce is about to step in, but Kagome grabs him by the lab coat and pulls him towards her. She kisses him soundly on the lips then lets him go.

"That should hold you until lunch," Kagome tells him with a giggle.

"I most certainly will." Bruce tells her, but then leans in, "Maybe just one more."

He kisses her again then gets in the elevator. Bruce makes his way to the lab with a spring in his step, he has never felt this happy or complete before, not even with Betty. He walks into the into the lab and gets back to work, it seems that he is closer to a breakthrough in the fight against cancer. Bruce and his team worked all morning uninterrupted until noon, at which time the rest of his team went to lunch, leaving Bruce to work alone. A few minutes later Kagome comes in to tear her boyfriend away from his research and take him to lunch.

Kagome smiles as she sees him hunched over his microscope making notes about his new findings. She enters her password and goes into the lab.

"Alright, Dr. Banner, it is now time for lunch. So, tear yourself away from your microscope and let's go."

Bruce looks up and smiles at Kagome, "Okay just a minute, let me just finish this."

He finishes up his notes, cleans up and takes off his lab coat. Bruce then puts on his jacket and he and Kagome head out for lunch. They go to a nice French restaurant for lunch and have a nice conversation about how their morning had gone after they parted ways. She tells him she was swamped with meeting and conference calls and he tells her that he seems to be making progress in his research for a cure for cancer. As their looking over their menus, Kagome suddenly stiffens, Bruce looks up from his menu and looks at his girlfriend.

"Is something wrong, Kagome?"

"No, I just felt someone walk into the restaurant, and their heading this way. Get ready, Bruce, you're about to be embarrassed by my son."

"What?"

At that moment Shippou walks up to the table and sits down next to Kagome. He smiles at Bruce and leans forward, "So have you and my mother hooked up yet, can I call you my new daddy?"

Bruce turns bright red, and clears his throat, "I beg your pardon?"

"Shippou!"

Shippou grins, "Since you're dating my mother, you're going to be my new daddy," Shippou explains.

Bruce didn't say anything, he just looked at Kagome, who was so embarrassed she had covered her face. Luckily Shippou hadn't said that loud enough for anyone else to hear.

"When did you get back, and how did you find out that we're dating?"

"I just got back and Lord Fluffy Pants told me. So I decided to come to congratulate you and of course embarrass you."

"Well, mission accomplished, now go away," Kagome hissed at her son.

"No, I think I'll stay and have lunch with my parents," Shippou said as he waved a waiter over so he could get a menu.

"I'm going to kill you, Shippou," Kagome tells him

"I know," Shippou says without looking up from his menu.


	14. Taking It To the Next Level

**INUYASHA AND THE AVENGERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS I'M JUST BORROWING THEM.**

Another six months had passed and things couldn't be going any better. Bruce and Kagome's relationship was going strong, Bruce was close to a breakthrough in his cancer research, Souta had accepted Bruce as a member of the family and was very happy for them. And Sesshomaru was so pleased with his work he gave him a raise and more funding for his research.

And now that everything had fallen into place, Bruce had decided that it was time to take his and Kagome's relationship to the next level, he was going to ask her to get an apartment with him. They had been living together since he had first arrived in Japan, but now that they were in a relationship, things were different. There was a level of intimacy that was missing from their relationship and that was something that Bruce wanted to fix.

Bruce decided to take up Sesshomaru's offer for him to live in one of the many apartment building that he owned throughout the city. He just needed to talk to Kagome about it. Now, all Bruce needed to do was come up with the best way to ask Kagome to move in with him. He thought that having a romantic dinner out would be the best way to ask her, but since he still wasn't that familiar with the city even after a year, he decided to ask Shippou for help.

Bruce gave Shippou a call and asked for his help, the Kitsune told Bruce to come on over to his apartment that Friday evening so that they could discuss it. After telling Kagome that he had a few errands to run, Bruce headed out to Shippou's apartment. He was about to knock on Shippou's door when the door opened and standing there was a grinning red-haired Kitsune.

"So, you're ready to take your relationship with my mother to the next level, huh," Shippou asked as he stepped aside allowing Bruce to enter the apartment.

"That's the plan, I want to ask Kagome to get an apartment together, but I want it to be special. I thought a romantic dinner for our six month anniversary would be the way to go, but I'm still not familiar with all of the restaurants in the city. That's where you come in," Bruce explains as he goes and sits down on Shippou's sofa.

Shippou closes the door, and walks over to the bar, he offers Bruce a drink, which he accepts, "I see what you mean, this date needs to be perfect, and I know just the restaurant you can take my mother to."

Shippou takes out his cell phone and dials the number to Le Chateau de Joel Robucho, he talks for a little while with the maitre d, setting up the reservations for Bruce and Kagome for that Saturday night. Once he was finished he hung up and turned to Bruce.

"Alright I made reservations for you and Kagome for tomorrow night at 7:00, I'll have a car pick you up to take you to the restaurant, and as my gift to you, I have already paid for everything in advance."

"Shippou you didn't have to do that, I could have easily paid for it," Bruce tells him.

"I know you could have, but I wanted to do my part to make this special. It's not every day that you ask my mother to move in with you."

Bruce finishes his drink then stands up, "Thank you, Shippou, I appreciate all your help."

"You're welcome, Bruce, I hope everything turns out alright," Shippou tells him and pats Bruce on the back.

Bruce smiles at Shippou and returns the pat, "I hope so too, Shippou, I'll see you at work on Monday and thanks again."

With that, Bruce leaves Shippou's apartment and heads back to the Higurashi shrine, but before he gets there, he stops off to buy something for dessert as a cover for being out. When he gets home Emiko and Kagome have dinner already on the table, to his surprise Souta is also home for the weekend. He comes in and kisses Kagome, then gives Emiko the dessert that he purchased. They all sit down and have a lovely dinner. After dinner, Bruce and Kagome go outside to look at the stars.

They are cuddled under the Goshinboku tree, enjoying each others company, when Bruce leans down and kisses Kagome. He pulls away and caresses her face.

"Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

Kagome smiles at him, "Yes, of course, where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, just be sure to dress nice."

Kagome raises an eyebrow, "You're not going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope," Bruce tells her with a cheeky grin.

Kagome huffs, "Fine, I guess I can wait."

"Don't worry, Kagome, you're going to like my surprise," Bruce tells her as he kisses her neck.

Kagome closes her eyes and surrenders to the sensation of his soft lips against her neck. Kagome quietly moans as Bruce begins to nibble on her neck, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to send a zing through her body. They suddenly pull apart when they hear the door to the house open and Souta comes out of the house, He gives them a cheeky grin as he walks past them.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

Kagome glares at her little brother, "No you didn't, dork, where are you off to?"

"Just going to the movies with some friends, you guys want to come along?"

"No, I think we're good here," Bruce tells Souta.

"Suit yourself, have a good night you guys, don't wait up," Souta says as he makes his way down the shrine steps.

Bruce sighs and kisses Kagome's temple, "Well, I think that killed the mood, how about we go inside and watch a movie?"

Kagome nods and stands up, "Yeah, we make some popcorn and cuddle on the sofa," She tells him and offers her hand. He takes it and they both head inside.

The next day, Kagome is dressed in her Miko garb and is leading a tour around the shrine, telling tourist stories about the Shikon Jewel. It was a busy day for her as there were a lot of people at the shrine that day. But by 4:00 the shrine was closed and Kagome rushed upstairs to get ready for her date with Bruce. She decided that she would wear her emerald green knee length cocktail dress, something that would please both Bruce and Hulk. Once that was decided, she went and showered in her mother's bathroom then went back to her room to get dressed and put on her makeup. Kagome decided to curl her hair and leave it down, she knew how much Bruce loved her hair down.

While Kagome is getting ready, Bruce has gone to the bathroom to shower and shave, Once he gets out he goes back to his room and puts on a black suit that he had bought weeks ago for this occasion. The idea for this date had been in his head for a while, he just didn't know when he would do it. Once he was ready, Bruce went downstairs to wait for Kagome. He didn't have to wait long, 10 minutes later, Kagome comes downstairs in her beautiful dress. Bruce's mouth falls open at the sight of her, he steps forward and takes her hand.

"You look absolutely stunning."

Kagome blushes, "Thank you, Bruce, and you look incredibly handsome in that suit."

Now it's Bruce's turn to blush, "Thank you, Kagome, shall we get going?"

Kagome nodded then grabbed her green clutch. Bruce opens the door for her and then follows her out. Taking her hand he leads her down the Shrine steps to an awaiting car. They get in and the driver heads off towards the restaurant. Due to the traffic, it takes them nearly an hour to arrive, but they make it in time for their reservation. Bruce gets out of the car first then goes around to the other side to help Kagome out. Kagome takes hold of Bruce's arm and together they walk into the restaurant.

Upon seeing them, the maitre d escorts them to their table and tells them that their waiter will be with them shortly, he hands Bruce the wine list while they wait. By the time the waiter comes over, Bruce has decided on getting some champagne for them.

"Good evening, I am Paul, I shall be your waiter for this evening. How can I be of assistance?"

"Yes, Paul, we'd like to start off with a bottle of Bollinger Les Vieilles Vignes Francaises, this is a special occasion."

"Very good, sir, I shall be right back with that bottle."

Kagome looks at Bruce and raises an eyebrow, "What's the occasion, Bruce?"

"Well, in case you have forgotten, this is our six month anniversary, and I wanted to make this evening special."

"I know it's our six month anniversary, but I thought we agreed on no gifts until a year," Kagome said.

"We did but this isn't a gift, this is just dinner with my wonderful girlfriend."

Kagome blushed at Bruce's comment, "Thank you, Bruce."

"No need to thank me, just telling you the truth, I am so lucky to have you for a girlfriend. Never have I ever been so happy, with you I feel complete, and loved Kagome, and I hope I make you feel the same way."

Kagome takes Bruce's hand, "Oh I do, Bruce, you've made me happier than I've ever been, or ever hope to be. I've been thinking a lot about our relationship lately and I think we should take it to the next level."

Bruce's eyes widen, "What do you mean, Kagome?"

"Let's get an apartment together," Kagome tells him.

Bruce looks at her stunned for a moment, then he starts to chuckle, causing Kagome to frown.

"What's so funny," She asks

"I'm not laughing at you, Kagome, I'm laughing because that was the whole reason for this date, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"You were?"

"Yes, Kagome, there is nothing in this world I would like better than to share a home with you, so now that we know we're on the same page, will you make me the happiest man on earth and agree to move in with me?"

"Yes, Bruce, nothing would make me happier than sharing an apartment with you."

Bruce squeezed Kagome's hand and brought them to his lips, "Thank you."


	15. Innocent Love

**WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER!**

After dinner, Bruce and Kagome went back to the shrine so that they could tell Emiko and Souta then good news. When they arrive they find Emiko sitting in the living room drinking tea and listening to music while Souta was upstairs doing his homework. The happy couple comes into the living room holding hands and laughing, causing Emiko to smile.

"I see you two had a lovely dinner."

Kagome smiles at her mother, "Yes we did in, fact, Bruce and I have some news."

Emiko's eyes widen and she covers her mouth, "You got engaged?"

Bruce chuckles, "No, not quite yet."

"Then what's the news?"

"Bruce and I have decided to move in together."

Emiko stands up from the sofa, she walks over and hugs Kagome. "I'm so happy for you, Kagome Dear, for the both of you," She says as she releases Kagome and hugs Bruce.

At this point, Souta comes downstairs after hearing all the commotion," What's going on?"

"Bruce and I have decided to get an apartment together," Kagome tells her little brother.

Souta crosses his arms and chuckles, "It's about time, I thought you guys would never move out of here."

"Souta!"

"What? It's true, I've been expecting this to happen for some time now."

Emiko giggles, "To be honest, so was I."

Bruce and Kagome look at each other, "Well, we didn't want to rush into anything," Bruce explains.

Souta rolls his eyes, "Sure you didn't."

Kagome huffs and slaps her little brother's arm.

"When were you planning on looking for an apartment," Emiko asks.

Bruce looks at Kagome and rubs the back of his neck, "Well, actually, I was thinking about taking Sesshomaru up on his offer to get an apartment in one of his buildings, that is if it's okay with you, Kagome?"

"No, I think that's a wonderful idea, that will save us a lot of time in looking for an apartment. I'll call Sesshomaru tomorrow and let him know, I'm sure he would know which one of his building would suit us best."

With that settled, everyone decided that it was late and went off to bed. The next morning around 10:00, Kagome calls Sesshomaru, she lets the phone ring three times before she goes to hang up, but right when she's about to press end, she hears Sesshomaru's voice.

"Imouto, to what do I owe this call on a Sunday morning?"

"Good morning to you too, Nii-san, I am actually calling because I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I need to know if that offer to move into one of your buildings still stands."

There was a long pause, "Ah I see that the good doctor finally got up the courage to ask you to move in with him. I was wondering when that would happen."

Kagome lets out an exasperated sigh, "You too? Did everyone think he was going to ask me to move in with him?"

"Yes."

"Well, you were wrong, I asked him not the other way around."

"Either way, Imouto, it was inevitable. And yes, my offer still stands, I have the perfect apartment building in mind. I shall email you all the details this afternoon so you and the good doctor can go look at it."

"Great, thank you very much, Sesshomaru."

"You are welcome."

A few minutes later, Kagome received the email from Sesshomaru with all the details that she and Bruce would need. So she went to his room to let him know what she had received.

"Bruce, Sesshomaru emailed details about one of his apartment buildings, he said it would be perfect for us. Do you want to go look at it?"

"Sure, we can head out there right now if you like."

"Let me grab my purse and we can go."

Once Kagome grabbed her purse, she and Bruce head out to the Roppongi Hills Residences to see the apartment that Sesshomaru recommended. Kagome had called ahead to inform the apartment manager that they wanted to see the apartment so he was waiting for them when they arrived. The apartment manager greets them and leads them to the elevator. And while they ride the elevator up to the top floor, the apartment manager explains the services and amenities.

"This building offers a variety of services it offers front desk service, doormen & porters, The doorman at the entrance gives everyone a warm send-off when they leave, and a warm welcome when they return. He also helps you to carry your baggage. We offer housekeeping, and room service, there are also spas & fitness centers, medical services. There's also a rooftop garden, the sky lounge, and Community Hall. Shops and restaurants are within walking distance and the advantage of being only a few minutes away from Taisho Industries."

Bruce and Kagome were very impressed with all the services they provided, upon entering the apartment they discovered that it was exactly what they were looking for. It was a two story three bedroom apartment two and a half bath, with all the amenities they could want, a large living room with a balcony. The bedrooms were very spacious and had a connecting balcony, a large professional style kitchen which also had its own balcony. It was fully furnished with a washer/dryer set, so they didn't have to worry about that.

Bruce and Kagome walked around the apartment while the apartment manager waited in the living room.

"What do you think Bruce," Kagome asked.

"I think it's perfect, but do you like it?"

"Yes, it's actually kind of weird, it has everything I would ever want or need, and the furniture is exactly what I would have picked out."

"Really, that is weird. Do you think Sesshomaru had this set up just for you," Bruce asked.

"There's only one way to find out. Excuse me how many other tenants have rented this apartment?"

"Oh this apartment isn't for rent, Miss Higurashi, it was designed specifically for you. No one has ever lived here, Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't allow it."

Bruce and Kagome looked at each other, "Well that answered that question, we'll take it. When do we sign the lease agreement?" Bruce asked.

"Wonderful, I'm glad it meets your standards, and there is no lease agreement on this apartment, Dr. Banner, you and Miss Higurashi own it outright."

"Why am I not surprised," Bruce mumbled.

"Yes, Sesshomaru must have had this planned out months in advance," Kagome tells him, Bruce only nods.

"Alright then, I guess we'll be moving in this weekend."

"Very good, Dr. Banner, we'll be expecting you." The apartment manager said as he hands Bruce and Kagome their keys.

Now that they had their apartment, Bruce and Kagome went shopping for linens for the bedrooms and other household products. They spent the rest of their Sunday shopping for their new apartment. Once they had gotten a few things and had taken them back to their apartment, Bruce and Kagome decided that it was time to head back to the Shrine to let Emiko and Souta know that they had found their apartment and to call Sesshomaru to thank him for the apartment.

They arrived at the Shrine and informed Emiko and Souta that they had found their apartment and that they would be moving in the following weekend. Emiko and Souta were so happy for them that they offered to help them move into their new apartment. After Kagome finished describing their new apartment to her family, she went into her room and called Sesshomaru. She thanked him for the apartment and told him it was perfect.

"Of course it was, Miko, I designed it myself," Sesshomaru tells her.

"I thought as much, only you know and Shippou know me well enough to know what I like and don't like."

"Indeed, will you and Banner be needing the week off to move in?"

"No, I think if we have Friday off that should be good enough."

"Very well, enjoy your new home."

"Thank you, Nii-san."

"You are welcome, Imouto."

On Friday, Bruce and Kagome spent the entire day packing up their stuff. Granted Bruce didn't have a lot of personal effects, so most of the time was spent packing Kagome's things. Shippou eventually showed up with a van to help them move all of their belongings. They were able to take all the boxes over to the apartment that night and tomorrow, Emiko would come over to help them unpack.

Kagome was coming downstairs after putting away the box she was carrying when she noticed that her mother, brother, and son were heading for the door.

"What, you guys aren't staying for dinner, we can order some take out."

Emiko smiled at her daughter, "No thank you, dear, Shippou was kind enough to invite your brother and me to dinner. Why don't you order something for you and Bruce, and tomorrow I'll go to the market and bring you some groceries."

"You don't have to do that, Mom."

"I want to, Dear, now you go spend some quality time with your boyfriend. I'll be over around noon with lunch."

With that Emiko, Souta, and Shippou said goodnight to the couple and left. Kagome is left standing in the foyer staring at the door. It just now hit her that she was going to be alone with Bruce all night long, she is suddenly hit with a wave of nervousness. Slowly she turns around and enters the living room, at that moment Bruce comes downstairs.

"Hey, where is everyone?"

"They left, Shippou invited my mom and Souta out to dinner. I guess this is his house warming gift to us, leaving us alone to enjoy our new home."

Bruce smiles as he walks towards Kagome and wraps his arms around her waist. He kisses her very gently on the lips.

"Remind me to thank him for that later," Bruce says after breaking the kiss.

Bruce places his forehead against Kagome's and closes his eyes, "You do know that nothing has to happen that you're not ready for, right?"

Kagome swallows hard, "I know, Bruce. I'm ready, just a little nervous that's all. I've never…"

Understanding enters Bruce's eyes as he looks at the woman he loves. He kisses her again this time a little harder, "Don't worry, Kagome, I'll take good care of you, I promise."

Kagome smiles at Bruce then wraps his arms around his neck and kisses him. She cards her fingers through his salt and pepper hair then gives it a light tug, causing Bruce to moan. He pulls away from her lips, kissing his way down her neck, lightly licking and nipping at her skin. Kagome's head falls back giving Bruce better access. He suddenly sweeps Kagome into his arms and carries her upstairs to their bedroom.

Laying her gently on the bed, Bruce lays down next to her and begins kissing her, slowly working his way down her neck toward her covered breasts. Through her shirt, he palms her breasts, squeezing and kneading them. Bruce looks up at Kagome, silently asking for permission, she nods and he begins to unbutton her blouse. He kisses along every inch of skin that is slowly being exposed to his sight until her blouse is opened.

Bruce lightly runs his hands across Kagome's flat stomach giving her the chills. He lowers his head and kisses the top of each breast, He reaches behind Kagome and unclasps her bra. Slowly he slides the bra straps off her shoulders and removes her bra, Bruce groans at the sight of her large round creamy breast. He lowers his head and takes a nipple into his mouth and gently suckles, while he kneads the other one.

Kagome gasps at the sensation of Bruce's hot mouth on her nipple, she arches off the bed and moans. Bruce begins to suckle harder while he tweaks and pinches her other nipple, Kagome's moans get louder. She can feel a coil in her belly tighten with each pull of her nipple. Bruce swirls his tongue around her nipple then let's go, Kagome whines at the loss of contact but then she gasps when Bruce licks his way down her stomach to the top of her shorts.

Bruce unbuttons her jeans and pulls them off along with her panties. He sits up and stares at his beautiful girlfriend, Kagome blushes and tries to cover herself.

"Don't hide from me, Kagome, I just want to admire your beautiful body."

"Then let me do the same," She replies.

Bruce quickly removes his shirt, jeans, and boxers and stands before Kagome. Her eyes were glued to his hairy chest and slowly they traveled down towards his pelvis. Her eyes widen at the sight of his thick and throbbing cock. She blushes at the sight of him and looks away.

Bruce moves closer to the bed, "Kagome, you don't have to be shy around me, you can look at me all you want, I don't mind."

Kagome turns her head, her eyes returning to his cock, she slowly reaches out to touch the head of his cock. Bruce gasps and Kagome pulls her hand away.

"No, don't pull away touch me, Kagome," Bruce pleads

Kagome tentatively reaches out for him again, she runs her fingers up the length of his cock, them wraps her hand around him. Bruce's eyes roll back and he moans at the sensation of Kagome's hand. Kagome is mesmerized by how hard it is, yet it is so velvety soft. She slowly begins to pump him, watching his face as his mouth falls open and a loud moan escapes his lips.

Growing bolder, Kagome scoots closer to Bruce and suddenly she can't resist the urge to wrap her lips around his cock. Bruce's eyes fly open and he pulls away from Kagome.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, that was amazing, and I would love for you to finish, but not tonight. Tonight is about you, I want to pleasure you tonight. Lie back down."

Kagome does as he says and scoots to the center of the bed, Bruce climbs onto the bed and settles himself between her legs. He slowly spreads her legs open and runs a finger through her glistening folds, Kagome gasps at the shock wave that shoots up her body.

"So wet for me," Bruce says as he pulls his finger away and licks her slick off his finger, "You taste so good, baby."

Slowly he lowers his head towards her pussy and takes a long lick, Kagome cried out in pleasure. Encouraged, Bruce began to tease her clit with his tongue and lips. Licking and sucking on her swollen clit, causing Kagome to start bucking her hips. Bruce used his arm to hold her down as he devoured her. He slowly inserted a long finger into her pussy, Kagome cringes at the intrusion she begins to tense.

Bruce kisses her stomach, "It's okay, love, just try to relax, I need to prepare you."

Kagome nods and forces her body to relax, Bruce can feel the tensions ebb away.

"That's it, Baby, you're doing beautifully."

Bruce slowly starts to pump his finger in and out while he continues to lick and suckle on Kagome's clit. The slightly uncomfortable feeling Kagome felt soon turns into pleasure as she begins to moan and cry out. Bruce doubles his efforts and adds a second finger, he begins to scissor his fingers trying to loosen Kagome up a little more.

Pleasure washes over Kagome in waves, she begins thrashing as the coil in her stomach tightens further then finally the coil snaps and Kagome comes with a scream. Bruce removes his fingers and licks them clean. He moves up Kagome's body and kisses her on the lips, she can taste herself on his lips.

Kagome's breathing finally slows down and she reaches for Bruce.

"I want you."

"Are you sure, we can stop if you want."

"No, please, Bruce, I want you now."

Bruce shifts his position and covers her body with his own. Reaching between them he takes himself in hand and lines himself up.

"Hold on to me, Kagome, I'm sorry, but this might hurt."

Kagome looks Bruce in the eyes and nods, slowly Bruce enters her. Kagome flinches and squeezes her eyes shut, she bits her lip trying not to make a sound.

"Look at me, Kagome."

Kagome opens her eyes and looks at Bruce. All she can see is love shining in his soft brown eyes.

"I love you so much, Kagome."

"I love you too, Bruce."

Bruce continues to push inside her until he's fully sheathed, he holds still giving Kagome time to adjust to his girth. After a while, Kagome moves her hips experimentally causing Bruce to groan.

"Can you move now, Bruce?"

Bruce slowly pulls out and pushes back, he moans at how tight Kagome feels. Kagome gasps and Bruce stills his movements.

"No, don't stop."

Bruce rears back and plunges in again and again, slowly the pain Kagome feel begins to morph into pleasure. She moans with every thrust and arches her back, pushing her breasts further into Bruce's chest. The hair from his chest stimulating her nipples.

"Harder, Bruce, I need you."

Bruce starts thrusting even harder into Kagome, never once taking his eyes off of Kagome's. Suddenly Kagome wraps her legs around Bruce's waist causing him to go in deeper, they both cry out and Bruce's thrusting intensifies. Kagome can feel the tightening in her stomach again as she gets closer to her orgasm.

Kagome screams as her orgasm suddenly hits her like a tidal wave. Bruce continues to thrust as he chases his own orgasm. Kagome starts to build again as Bruce thrust become more wild and sloppy, he buries his head in the crook of Kagome's neck as he groans and curses. She's hit with her third orgasm just as Bruce gives one last thrust and hold himself in her as he comes, his eyes briefly flash green. Bruce catches himself before he can collapse on Kagome. Kagome can feel him fill her womb with his warm cum. She sighs as she wraps her arms around Bruce's back, he pulls his head away and kisses her lips.

"Are you okay, did I hurt you," Bruce asks with a worried look in his eyes.

"I'm fine, Baby, I've never felt better, that was amazing."

"Yes, it was."

Bruce starts to pull out but Kagome grips him with her legs, "Don't pull out, I don't want to lose contact with you just yet."

"But, Baby, I'm going to get heavy," Bruce protests.

"I don't mind your weight, Bruce, please, stay like this for a while."

Bruce agrees and lays back down, he continues to kiss and caress Kagome until slowly her eyes flutter closed and she falls asleep. He smiles and slowly pulls out with a groan, he rolls over lies down next to Kagome. In her sleep she rolls over and cuddles into Bruce, he smiles and grabs the sheet to cover them. He then lets out a contented sigh and settles down for the night.


	16. An Unexpected Visitor

The next day Kagome wakes up to the feel of a hand gliding up and down her spine, her eyes flutter open and she stares into the eyes of her beloved boyfriend. He smiles down at her and kisses the top of her head.

"Good morning."

Kagome stretches like a cat then kisses his neck, "Good morning."

"How are you feeling?"

"Incredibly relaxed, a little sore and very happy."

"Good, I'm glad I could help, would you like me to draw you a bath?"

"Only if you join me."

"Oh, absolutely, I'll be right back."

Bruce gets up and walks into the bathroom to prepare a bath for Kagome, once it's ready, he comes back and scoops Kagome up into his arms. He carries her into the bathroom and gets into the tub with her still in his arms. Slowly he sits down and settles Kagome in between his legs. Kagome sighs as the hot water makes contact with her skin, she leans her head back against Bruce's chest and closes her eyes. Bruce wraps his arms around Kagome and kisses her neck, he lets out a sigh and relaxes in the bath. After a while, Bruce reaches for a washcloth and the soap and begins to wash Kagome. She sighs at the treatment he's giving her.

Bruce washes her chest and breast, caressing them as he continues to wash her. He washes her arms and legs then works his way down her stomach to her sensitive clit. Bruce slowly swirls his finger causing Kagome to become aroused, she shifts her positions so she's facing him and takes the washcloth away from him. Kagome washes his neck, chest, and arms, working her way down his body until she reaches his erect shaft. She pumps him a few times then straddles him. Kagome slowly lowers herself onto him, letting out a hiss as he deliciously stretches her. She wraps her arms around his neck and slowly begins to ride him.

"I love you." She whispers.

"I love you too," Bruce whispers back.

Kagome slowly makes love to Bruce in the tub while the water splashes out onto the floor. Eventually, Bruce starts bucking his hips up into Kagome as he takes hold of her waist and slams her down harder onto him. Kagome cries out as she reaches her peak, while Bruce continues to thrust up into her until he comes. They stay in the warm water until it cools, then Kagome gets off of Bruce and gets out of the tub. She hands Bruce a towel, they dry off and go back to bed.

It was around noon when Kagome's phone rang, she blindly reaches over and picks up her phone, looking at the caller ID she sees that it's her mother calling.

"Good morning, Mom."

Emiko giggles, "Good Afternoon, Kagome."

Kagome looks at the clock on the nightstand, "Wow, I thought you were coming over earlier?"

"I was, then I thought better of it, I thought you and Bruce could use some alone time. And seeing as I just woke you up, I was right," Emiko says with a giggle.

"Mom!"

What, it's only natural that you and he would celebrate in your own way your new apartment."

"Okay, Mom, could we please not talk about that?"

At that point, Bruce wakes up and looks at his girlfriend who is bright red.

"What are you guys talking about," He whispers.

"Sex," Kagome mouthed, and blushes

Bruce gives her an odd look, then rolls over and goes back to sleep.

Kagome rolls her eyes and smacks his ass, Bruce only grunts.

"So, Mom, are you coming over?"

"Will you and Bruce be decent?"

"Of course we will, geez, Mom."

"Okay, I'll be over in an hour to help you unpack and organize."

"Alright see you then, I'll make lunch."

Kagome hangs up and rolls over to kiss Bruce's shoulder, "So your mom will be here in an hour," Bruce asks.

"Yes."

"Good we just have enough time for another round," Bruce says as he pins Kagome under him.

"No Bruce, no more, for now, we have to get up and get ready. And I have to start on lunch. Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm famished, but not for food," Bruce said and his eyes flash green.

"Tough, you're going to have to wait, we really need to unpack, and with my mom's help we'll finish a lot faster."

Bruce sighs and lets Kagome get up, "Fine but as soon as your mom leaves, you're mine."

Kagome giggles, "Deal."

The couple gets up and gets dressed, Kagome heads to the kitchen to start on lunch while Bruce heads to the library to start unpacking his books. Kagome decided to make Miso soup and sushi and some tempura. She was in the middle of cooking when the doorbell rang.

"Bruce, can you get the door," Kagome called out.

"Sure, baby," He said as he walked by her and pecked her on the lips.

Bruce answered the door and there was Emiko and Souta, "Hey guys, come on in."

Emiko gives Bruce a hug then he shakes Souta's hand. Bruce leads Emiko and Souta to the shoe closet so they can put their shoes away and then they go into the living room.

"Kagome is just now finishing up lunch, would you like something to drink in the meantime?"

"Oh, no thank you, Bruce, I think I'll go help my daughter in the kitchen," Emiko tells him and heads off. In the meantime, Bruce asks Souta how school is going.

"It's going good, I'm at the top of my class," Souta informs Bruce.

"That's great, if you ever need any help with physics let me know, I'll be glad to give you a hand."

"Thanks, Bruce."

At this point, Kagome calls out that lunch is ready. They all sit down and have a nice lunch, after lunch, they talk for a bit then get started on the unpacking. Four hours later Bruce and Kagome were officially moved in. The apartment looked even better now that all their personal touches were put up.

Bruce and Kagome walked Emiko and Souta to the door, later on, that evening, "You sure you won't stay for dinner?"

"No, Kagome, we need to be getting home, thank you for the offer. You two have a good night."

They all hug and say goodnight. The minute the door closes, Bruce sweeps Kagome up into his arms and starts walking upstairs.

"My, my aren't we impatient," Kagome says with a giggle.

"Now that I've had a taste, I can't get enough, besides we made a deal."

"You're insatiable."

"Only for you."

Kagome's laughter can be heard as Bruce races upstairs.

Tony was attending a Stark Expo in Tokyo. He really didn't want to, he would much rather continue his search for his best friend and science bro Bruce Banner. But he had to keep up appearances. He had searched the world over for two years and still hadn't found Bruce. Everyone kept telling him to give up, but Tony couldn't, he was worried that maybe Bruce had been captured and was being experimented on or something. But for now, Tony had an Expo to attend.

Tony wandered around the Expo looking at the new inventions that the Japanese were coming out with, every now and then he would get stopped for an autograph or a picture. After a while, Tony got bored and decided that he needed a break, he wanders outside just to take a walk. And as he walks he observes the people walking rushing past him. Nothing out of the ordinary, just people going about their daily lives, until he spots someone familiar in the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, he swears he just saw Bruce Banner walking on the other side of the street carrying groceries. Tony does a double take but when he looks Bruce is gone.

"FRIDAY, hack into the CCTV cameras and do a facial recognition scan on everyone in the area," Tony tell his A.I.

 ****Who am I looking for, Boss?****

"Look for Bruce Banner."

FRIDAY begins her scan until she finds Bruce.

 ****Facial recognition complete, there's a 99.5% match for Dr. Bruce Banner.****

Tony becomes excited, never in a million years did he think he would find his best friend in Japan.

"FRIDAY, follow him with the cameras and tell me where he ends up."

 ****Boss, Dr. Banner has just entered the Roppongi Hills Residences.****

"What floor?"

 ****Top floor, sir.****

Tony didn't waste any time, he crosses the street and makes his way over to the Roppongi Hills Residences. Noting how luxurious the apartment building is, he finds it odd that Bruce would be living in such a place. Going into the building Tony takes the elevator to the top floor. Approaching to the door that FRIDAY tells Tony that Bruce went into, he rings the doorbell.

Meanwhile, Bruce is about to make dinner for him and Kagome, they have been living together in the Roppongi Hills Residence for a year now and are very happy. It's a two bedroom apartment but the spare bedroom is for guests when they come to visit. For Bruce, things couldn't be more perfect, he was living with the woman he loves, they have a beautiful life together, he and the Other Guy get along perfectly now. He should have known something was going to ruin it. The doorbell rings and Bruce looks at his watch, it's about time for Kagome to arrive, so naturally, he thinks it her, only she forgot her key again. Bruce laughs as he goes to answer the door.

"Kagome, did you forget your key again?" He asks as he opens the door.

The smile on his face falls when he sees who's leaning against the door frame.

"Who's Kagome, Buddy?"

"I, uh, Tony."

"No, I'm Tony, you're Bruce, who's Kagome?"

"How did you find me?"

"With a great deal of difficulty, I was looking in third world countries for you. I never thought I'd find you in Japan."

"What are you doing here?" Bruce asks.

"Stark Expo, what I want to know is what are you doing here, and you still haven't answered my question, who's Kagome."

Bruce sighs, "Why don't you come on in and I'll explain."

Tony saunters into Bruce's apartment and looks around, it's a two-story apartment with a modern feel to it. Dark wood paneling and a red sofa, overall it's very nice. Something that Tony wouldn't think Bruce would be comfortable in, but the man looks quite at home here. Tony goes and sits at the bar and Bruce offers him a whiskey, which he gladly accepts.

Tony looks at Bruce expectantly, "So what's going on, Buddy?"

Bruce sighs, "After the whole incident with Sokovia, you know I ended up in the Quinjet and it took off, well it landed in the forest at a shrine here in Tokyo. While I was there I met Kagome...

Bruce goes on to explain everything that happened to him and Kagome. That she helped him come to terms that he and the Other Guy are actually one in the same person. Tony is completely fascinated by what Bruce is telling him, he notices that Bruce rarely refers to Hulk as the Other Guy anymore that when he does talk about him he mostly uses words like 'we' or 'us'.

"So then you got a handle on the Other Guy, then?"

"Yeah, we don't need to use anger to transform anymore. We can do it at will, we share this body very well. Hulk lets me in his brain to help him when he takes over." Bruce explains.

"And all this because of a woman?" Tony asks.

"Not just any woman, Tony, Kagome is special. There isn't another woman like her anywhere on this earth, and I love her dearly."

"How long have you two been together?" Tony asks.

"We've been together for a year and a half now, and I've never been happier."

"Well I'm happy for you, Buddy, so when do I get to meet the little woman?"

Bruce looks at his watch, "She should be home any minute."

Tony rubs his hands together, "Ooh, I can't wait to meet the Mrs."

About that time they hear keys jingling in the lock, signaling the Kagome was home. She walks into the house and puts her briefcase down, then takes off her shoes. Seeing Bruce in the kitchen she heads straight for him, not even noticing the other man in the room.

"Hi, Baby, how was your day?" Kagome says as she wraps her arms around Bruce's neck and gives him a huge kiss.

Bruce eagerly returns the kiss, momentarily forgetting about Tony. He wraps his arms around Kagome bring her flush against his body as the kiss intensifies. Tony just smirks as he watches then decides to make his presence known by clearing his throat. The couple pulls away and looks at Tony, Kagome blushes.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know we had a guest."

"That's okay, Kitten, you were pretty busy there for a moment."

Kagome lets go of Bruce and stares at Tony for a minute, "Have we met?" She asks.

"No, I would definitely remember meeting you," Tony tells her.

"I get the feeling I've seen you somewhere before," her eyes widen when she realizes who he is, "You're Bruce's teammate, Tin Man."

Tony frowns, "That's Iron Man."

"Tin Man, Iron Man, whatever."

"No, it's not whatever, it's Iron Man." Tony whines.

"Then it's Kagome, not Kitten."

Tony opens his mouth then closes it, he crosses his arm, "Fair enough."

"So what is the great Tony Stark doing in our humble apartment?" Kagome asks.

"Well, Honey, Tony just happened to be in the area when he spotted me coming home from the market," Bruce tells Kagome.

"And he followed you home like a lost puppy, huh?"

"Hey, I resent that!" Tony says indignantly, "I just wanted to know what happened to my Science Bro and best friend after he went missing for two years."

"Okay then, why don't you two get caught up while I make dinner for the three of us," Kagome says.

Kagome goes into the kitchen and begins to gather the ingredients to make Oden while Bruce fixes Tony another drink. They sit down and talk about what's been going on for the past two years, Tony told Bruce about the Accords and how Steve and several others went rogue afterward. About their fight at an airport, then he found out that Bucky was the one who killed his parents and the Steve knew about it. He told Bruce how Steve and the other became wanted fugitives, but with a lot a soul-searching, Tony was able to forgive Bucky, realizing that he was brainwashed at the time. He then helped get the other Avengers pardoned and they are now all living back at the Avenger's compound on probation. Bruce tells Tony about working for Taisho Industries and making a breakthrough in curing cancer.

"Clinical trials should be starting soon, I'm actually taking some time off, that's the only reason you caught me otherwise I'd still be at work."

"That's amazing, Bruce, I'm happy for you," Tony tells his best friend.

"Thank you, Tony."

Kagome calls the men to dinner and serves them the Oden. She freshens Tony's drink then sits down next to Bruce. They eat in silence for a while, until Tony can't take it anymore.

"So when are planning on coming back to the Avengers, Bruce?"


	17. Science Bros

Bruce begins choking on his food and Kagome has to pat him on the back to get him to stop coughing.

"What do you mean come back to the Avengers, I hadn't actually thought about it."

"Well, I don't see why you haven't, you've found a cure for cancer, it's going to clinical trials, you have nothing else to do, what else are you going to do?"

"What do you mean 'what else am I going to do,' there are a lot of things I can do. I have a ton of research to do, I oversee the clinical trials on the medication."

Tony pursed his lips, "Yeah, but do you really want to do that, don't you miss the action the excitement, the danger?!"

"The danger, no"

"Ah ha, but you do miss the action and the excitement."

Kagome looks at Bruce, "Do you, Bruce?"

"What? No, I don't miss that, I'm very happy with my life with you."

"Bruce, it's okay if you miss that kind of excitement, I miss it too sometimes."

At hearing that, Tony raises an eyebrow, wondering what Kagome meant by that.

"Even if I did miss it, I can't leave my research, I can't leave Taisho Industries."

Kagome turns in her chair and takes Bruce's hands, "Bruce, you don't need to be here for the clinical trials, the team can handle that. And whenever they do need you, you can always fly back or do the research from our office in New York. All I want is for you to be happy, and if being an Avenger makes you happy then I support you."

"What about you, and your work?"

"I can easily transfer to the New York office without any fuss, Sesshomaru won't mind at all as long as I don't leave the company."

"You would do that for me," Bruce asked.

"Of course I would, I love you."

"Oh, Kagome, I love you too."

They lean it towards each other and kiss, Tony just sits there with a triumphant look on his face. He suddenly claps his hands causing the lovebirds to jump and break apart, Bruce glares at Tony who only gives him a cheeky grin.

"So does that mean I get my science bro back?"

Bruce looks at Kagome, who nods, "Yeah, I guess it does, we need to talk to Sesshomaru first, but I don't see a problem with that."

Tony leaps out of the chair and pumps his fist, "Alright, I knew you'd see it my way. I'll get everything set up at the compound, Buddy, you and Kagome will have your own housing unit separate from everyone else. Totally state of the art, you won't be lacking in anything. I'll have your lab fully stocked with whatever you need."

"Whoa wait a minute, Tony, I don't know if I can work at the compound and still work for Sesshomaru. Kagome and I may need to live in the city to be close to her work."

Tony thought for a moment, then snapped his finger, "The Quinjet, you guys can use the Quinjet to get to and from work."

Kagome and Bruce look at each other, "How about I ask Sesshomaru if you and he can partner up on this research and if I can work from the compound, only going into the office when I need to?"

"You think he'd go for that, I've been trying to partner up with Sesshomaru Taisho for years, but he doesn't like me," Tony tells her.

"No he doesn't like you, Tony, but he does like Bruce and me, so he might just do it for us. Plus I just happen to be his heiress."

Tony's eyes widen and his mouth falls open, "You're his heiress, you're THAT Kagome."

Kagome rolls her eyes, "Yes, I'm THAT Kagome, Tony."

"Damn, Bruce, you sure know how to pick them."

"Shut up, Tony," Bruce says with an exasperated sigh.

"Well, now that that's settled how about we finish dinner, good Oden, by the way."

They settle back down and finished their dinner, Tony started talking to Bruce about the projects that he was involved with, the new technology he was looking into to improve his suits. Bruce listened attentively, hardly ever interrupting Tony. He could tell that Tony missed talking to someone that was on the same intellectual level as himself, so he let the genius ramble for a while. In the meantime, Kagome got up and made coffee and brought some dessert for the men. She too could tell that Tony missed his best friend terribly so she didn't mind that Tony had monopolized all of Bruce's attention.

When dessert was finally eaten and the coffee finished, Tony got up and thanked his hosts for a lovely evening. Bruce and Kagome walked Tony to the front door, Tony and Bruce hugged and he shook Kagome's hand. Tony opened the door to leave but paused.

"You know, I had no intention of coming to the Stark Expo this year. After everything that happened I wasn't feeling up to it, but now I'm glad I did. I got my best friend back and met the love of his life. Thank you, Kagome for taking good care of him."

"It's been my pleasure, Tony," Kagome tells him

Tony suddenly smirks, "Oh, I bet it has. Let me know what Sesshomaru tells you and we'll go from there, night all."

With that, Tony saunters out of Bruce and Kagome's apartment whistling a happy tune. Kagome closes the door and looks at Bruce.

"Your friend is very strange."

"Yeah he is, but he means well, come on I'll help you clean up and then we can go to bed. Tomorrow we need to go talk to Sesshomaru, hopefully, he won't kill me for trying to take you away."

"I hope he won't either, I would miss you."

Bruce pulls Kagome flush against his body, "Very funny, you know what, let's clean up tomorrow, I would much rather take my lovely girlfriend to bed."

"What a wonderful idea, Dr. Banner."

"Why, thank you very much, Ms. Higurashi."

Bruce sweeps her up in his arms and takes her upstairs. 


	18. One Less Nuisance

**INUYASHA AND THE AVENGERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM.**

The next day Bruce and Kagome walk hand in hand into Taisho Industries. They go first to Kagome's office where Kagome was going to call Sesshomaru first and request an appointment to see him. But when they get to her office, Kagome's secretary has some news for her.

Kagome, Lord Sesshomaru is expecting you and Dr. Banner in his office, right now."

Bruce and Kagome look at each other, "Did he say what for?"

"No, he just wanted me to tell you not to dawdle."

"Okay, then we'll be right up."

Kagome went into her office to put up her purse and Bruce followed, "What do you suppose Sesshomaru wants to talk to us about?"

"Knowing him, he probably found out that Tony was at our apartment last night, and wants to know what's going on."

"You're probably right. Well, as he said, let's not dawdle."

Kagome takes Bruce's hand and together they walk to the elevator and take it to the top floor.

When they get there, Sesshomaru's secretary stands up, "Ms. Higurashi, Dr. Banner, Lord Sesshomaru is expecting you, go on in."

Bruce opens the door for Kagome and she walks in. Sesshomaru is standing by the window staring out at the city.

"Miko, I hear that Tony Stark was at your apartment yesterday."

"How did you know that?"

"I have my sources, Miko."

Kagome raised an eyebrow, "You don't have our apartment bugged, do you?"

"Hn, I would never stoop so low as to invade your privacy, nor does your intimate life interest me."

Kagome and Bruce let out a sigh of relief.

"But, that does not mean I am not interested in what Stark had to say, I can imagine that he asked you to come back to the Avengers, is that not so, Dr. Banner?"

Bruce swallowed hard, "Yes, he did."

"And you wish to return." It was not a question but a statement of fact.

"I would like to, but I know that I am under contract with you."

"You have fulfilled your end of the contract, you found the cure for cancer. If you wish to leave my employ you can with no hard feelings."

"Actually what we were hoping for was that you and Mr. Stark can perhaps partner up on some research that way Bruce could continue to work for you," Kagome suggested.

Sesshomaru turned around and walked back to his desk, he sat down and stared Bruce for a moment, as if surveying his worth. Bruce shifted uncomfortably under Sesshomaru's intense gaze.

Finally, Sesshomaru looked at Kagome, "Do you think such a merger with Stark would be of any benefit to us, Miko?"

"It could be, Tony Stark has made great advances in technology, just last night he was telling Bruce about using nanotechnology to improve his suits. Perhaps we can use that to further our own medical research." Kagome suggests.

"Fine, if Stark agrees to give us access to his nanotechnology, I will agree to this merger."

"What will Tony get out of this," Bruce asked

"He will get to work with you again, and have unlimited resources available to him."

Bruce nods his head.

"I am curious about something, Dr. Banner, what do you plan to do about the Accords?" Sesshomaru asked, "My understanding that the man that the Avengers work under is the very man who made it his life's mission to hunt you down."

"How do you know that?"

"I made it my business to find out more about these Accords when you and the Miko began your relationship."

"I don't know, I'm going to have to talk to Tony about that, maybe he has some idea."

"I have done my research, it would be a conflict of interest that Thaddeus Ross be the one in charge of the Avengers if you return. The man cannot be objective as far as you are concerned. That being the case the job should go to Everett Ross instead, my spies have told me that he is a good man and can be trusted."

"You have spies at the State Department?"

Sesshomaru smiled a cold smile, "I have spies everywhere."

Bruce gulped, then cleared his throat, "Everett Ross, uh? I'll let Tony know."

After their meeting with Sesshomaru, Bruce met up with Tony for lunch and told him his and Sesshomaru's concern about Thaddeus Ross. Tony listened intently to everything that Bruce had to tell him.

"Sesshomaru's right, Tony, General Ross will never be objective when it comes to Hulk and me. I can't return until someone else is in charge of the Avengers. Sesshomaru suggests that the Avengers be handed over to Everett Ross instead."

"Everett Ross, how does Sesshomaru know about him," Tony asked.

"Tony, Sesshomaru knows everything and let's just leave it at that," Bruce tells his best friend.

"How-"

"He just does."

This was something hard for Tony to accept but the look on Bruce's face made him stop asking questions," Alright, I'll head on out to Washington D.C. and talk to Ross, both of them. I promise you, Buddy, I'll get this all worked out as soon as possible so you can come home."

"Thank you, Tony, I appreciate that."

"Anytime," Tony said and took a drink of his bourbon, "So, Kagome, she's, uh kind of young for you don't you think?"

Bruce glared at Tony, "Tony, don't start with me."

"What, I'm just saying, way to go, Buddy, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Tony."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Tony smirked and continued eating his sushi. After their conversation, Tony decided that he would get in contact with the team and let them know what was going on. When he got back to his suite he had FRIDAY place a call to the Avenger compound and alert everyone that this was an urgent phone call.

When they received the alert from FRIDAY about an urgent call, all the Avengers gathered in the communal living area, minus Natasha. Natasha had been sent on an assignment. Once they were all gathered, Tony's holographic form appeared in the middle of the living room. Tony looked around and nodded.

"Oh, good, you're all there."

"Well, yeah, Tony, you made it sound urgent," Rhodey said.

"Well it is and it isn't."

"Ah man!" Everyone groaned and started to get up to leave.

"No, wait this is serious, I found him!"

"Who did you find, Tony?" Steve asked.

"I found Big Green!" Tony tells them excitedly.

"You found Bruce, where?" Clint asked.

"In Japan of all places, he's been living in Tokyo for two years now."

"Did you talk to him?" Steve asked Tony

"Of course I talked to him, Steve, I even had dinner with him."

"What did you guys talk about," Sam asked.

"The weather, how beautiful the Japanese gardens are, what do you think we talked about? Him coming back to the Avengers!"

Sam rolled his eyes, "So what did he say?"

"He said he would but there's one small problem…"

Rhodey thought for a moment, then he sighed, "Ross."

"Give that man a cigar… no don't you'll stink up the whole compound. So, if we want Brucie to come back we have to get someone else to oversee the Avengers."

"That's easier said than done, Tony, Ross isn't going to want to give up the chance to have Bruce under his thumb."

"That's just it, it's a conflict of interest to have Ross oversee the Avengers since he has such animosity towards Bruce."

"But he let him go after that whole thing in Harlem happened." Rhodey tells Tony, "Maybe he's had a change of heart."

"I doubt it, Ross will eventually try to capture Bruce and experiment on him, to try and create an army of super soldiers."

"So then what do we do," Clint asked.

"We petition Congress to have the Avengers supervised by Everett Ross instead."

Rhodey furrows his brow, "Everett Ross, why him."

"I have it on good authority that he's a reliable person and a good man." Tony tells Rhodey, "So when I get back tomorrow we'll start working on getting Bruce home."

The rest of the Avengers agree with Tony, it was probably going to take some time to get everything settled, at least a few weeks. But the day that Tony was going to leave Japan he found an envelope outside his hotel room, he opened it up and read through it. An evil smile crept onto his face. When Tony got back to New York, he Rhodey and Steve went to Washington to talk to Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross.

"Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes, Captain Rogers, to what do I owe this visit," Secretary Ross asked.

"Sir, we have some news on the whereabouts of Dr. Bruce Banner," Rhodey tells Ross.

There's a glint in Ross's eyes at the mention of Bruce, "Oh, really and where exactly is he?"

"That's not something we're willing to disclose to you, Secretary Ross," Steve tells him, "Just know that he's willing to return to the Avengers and sign the Accords under one condition."

"Oh really, and what condition is that?"

"That you step down as the person in charge of the Avengers and hand the responsibility over to Everett Ross," Tony tells him.

Ross, chuckles, "And why would I do that?"

Because, there's a conflict of interest with you in charge, considering that you want to capture Bruce and experiment on him."

"Correction, I did want to experiment on him, that's all in the past.

Tony smirked, "Not according to what I found, it isn't. You have spent a tremendous amount of money and manpower these past two years looking for the good doctor, not to mention that underground facility you have in the Mojave desert set up for if you ever do catch him."

Ross's eyes widen, "How did?"

"Oh I have my ways, I'd say that's a big conflict of interest, wouldn't you, Rhodey?"

"I'd say so, yeah."

"So you can either step down quietly, Secretary Ross, and appoint Everett Ross as your successor, or we can make this information public," Steve tells him.

Secretary Ross sighs, he knew when he was over a barrel. "I'll make the announcement by the end of the week."

Tony smiles, and shakes his hand, "Thank you, dear, for your cooperation."

With that, Tony and the others stand up and leave Secretary Ross's office. He immediately gets on the phone and calls Bruce. It was 11 pm in Japan, Bruce and Kagome were in the middle of getting ready for bed when the phone rang.

"Hai, koreha Bruce Banner." (Yes, this is Bruce Banner.)

"Hey, Buddy, I didn't know you spoke Japanese," Tony said with a smirk.

"Tony, I've beening living in Japan for two years, you would think I would pick it up. Why are you calling so late?"

"Late, what time is it over there?"

"11:00"

"Oh, well it's 9 am here, and I've got some news for you. Ross is going to step down and appoint Everett as his successor. Which means, in a few weeks time you should be able to come home.

"How did you pull it off so fast?"

"I found an interesting package outside my hotel room, the day I left that had some juicy blackmail information on Ross. Now, where do you suppose that came from?"

"I have an idea," Bruce said.

"So do I, does this guy know everything?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well, that comes in handy, wait, does he have spies on me too?"

"Probably."

"Well, shit. Anyway, you guys pack your bags and get your affairs in order, you're coming home."

"Thanks, Tony, I appreciate all that you've done.

"No problem, Bruce, just happy to have my Science Bro back."

"Then I guess, we'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"Okay, can't wait." And with that Tony hung up.

He turns to the other two Avengers and smiles. "Bruce just needs to settle a few things and he'll be home."

He didn't bother to mention anything about Kagome, he was going to leave that as a surprise. That would make for an interesting reunion.


	19. Home Sweet Home

**WARNING: SEXUAL CONTENT!**

Bruce hung up the phone and looks at Kagome, "So, Tony got everything squared away," He explains to Kagome.

"Wow, so fast, how did he do that?"

"How else, blackmail. Apparently, the day that Tony left a package with some interesting information was left in front of Tony's hotel room. Now, who do you suppose that was from?"

Kagome tapped her lip, "I don't know, but it must have been very useful."

"Kagome."

"What, I just made a little inquiry on whether or not Sesshomaru had any interesting information, and it turned out that he did." So he had one of his shadow demons drop it off at your friend's hotel room."

"Shadow demons is that who Sesshomaru uses for spies?"

"Who better than a shadow?"

"Why would you do that, Honey?"

Kagome walks up to Bruce and wraps her arms around his waist, "Because I want you to be happy. I know that research makes you happy, but you could be happier still if you could be a researcher and an Avenger at the same time. And now that you and Hulk are one, it'll be easier for you."

Bruce looks down at the tiny woman in his arms, and gives her a kiss, "Thank you, Kagome, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"You're welcome, my love, as long as you're happy."

Suddenly Bruce picks Kagome up bridal style and throws her on the bed. He crawls on top of her and starts nibbling on her neck, "You know what else would make me happy?"

Kagome giggles, I don't know, why don't you tell me."

Bruce's eyes flash green, "I would much rather show you, " he said as he rips her nightgown in two.

Kagome gasps and Bruce plunges his tongue in her mouth, she sighs and wraps her arms around his neck. Bruce pulls away and takes off his shirt and sweat pants exposing his hard member. He proceeds to remove Kagome's panties and slide down her between her legs. Slowly he begins to tease her clit with his tongue, arousing her even more.

"So wet for me," Bruce groans, as he licks his way down to her entrance.

Kagome cries out when he inserts a finger into her and begins pumping in and out of her. He continues to suckle and lick her clit bringing closer and closer to her peak until finally, she comes with a scream. Kagome lays there catching her breath as Bruce slowly crawls up her body. Kissing her passionately, Kagome can taste herself on Bruce's tongue. Bruce reaches in between them, taking himself in hand he lines up with her entrance and slowly pushes in. Bruce groans and closes his eyes and he slides deeper inside the woman he loves. He slowly makes love to Kagome, all the while whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

Slowly Bruce brings them to their peak, waves of pleasure wash over them as they come together. Afterward, they lay there wrapped in each other's arms reveling in their bliss.

"I love you," Bruce whispers.

"I love you too," Kagome tells him.

Bruce slowly pulls out and rolls over, he pulls Kagome into his arms and covers them both. He kisses her shoulder as she lets out a contented sigh and snuggles more into him and falls asleep.

The next morning, Kagome and Bruce head to work where they inform Sesshomaru what happened with Secretary Ross.

"I know," He says.

"Of course you do," Kagome responds.

"Now the only thing left to do is set up our agreement with Stark Industries about getting their nanotechnology and transferring your work to the American office, Miko." Sesshomaru tells Kagome.

"I already talked to Shippou, he's getting everything set up with Pepper Potts at this very minute," Kagome informs him.

"Good, make sure that the office that they set up for you at their compound is private. I will send a spy over to inspect it to make sure it is not bugged."

"I don't think they would do that," Bruce tells Sesshomaru.

"I will not take any chances, Dr. Banner, our business is our own. If the office is bugged the shadow demons will short out any listening devices they come across. Now if there is nothing further, I suggest that the two of you prepare for your departure."

With that clear dismissal, Bruce and Kagome got up and left Sesshomaru's office. Bruce went back to his lab to inform his team that he was transferring to America and that if they needed his help with the clinical trials for the cancer cure, he was just a phone call away. While Bruce was talking to his team and packing up some of his stuff, Kagome was in her office also packing and making arrangments for her secretary to go work for Shippou. Kagome was in the middle of packing up some of her personal items when Shippou came in.

"So it's true, then, you are moving to America."

"Yep, Bruce and I are transferring to the office in America so that he can be closer to the Avengers," Kagome explains to her son.

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"It's what Bruce wants, and I want him to be happy."

"What about you?"

"I can adjust, it's not like I've never been in a foreign situation before. And it's not like I'm leaving the company, I'll just be working from the Avenger's Compound and going into the office every now and then."

"As long as you're happy, Mother, that's the important thing," Shippou tells her.

"I am happy, Shippou, as long as I'm with Bruce, I'll be happy. And maybe I can get into a fight or two just for old times sake."

Shippou laughs, "Maybe you can."

Later that evening, Bruce and Kagome went over to the Shrine to tell Emiko what their plans were, it just so happened that Souta was there also. They were both happy for them and wished them luck in America.

"I hope everything works out for the both of you, Kagome Dear."

"Thank you, Mom, you don't know how much that means to me."

Emiko embraces Kagome and whispers in her ear, "Call me the minute Bruce proposes."

"Mom!"

Emiko just giggles. Bruce looks at both women confused, Emiko pulls Bruce into a hug as well.

"Take care of my daughter."

"I will, Emiko, I promise."

Bruce and Kagome hug Souta who wishes them well when they leave the shrine and head home to pack.

Back at the Avenger's Compound, Tony is hard at work setting up the section that he promised Bruce and Kagome. He was basically building a suite for them that came fully furnished and with its own kitchen. Tony wanted to make sure that Bruce and Kagome lacked for nothing and had all the privacy they could need. He had talked to Pepper and had learned that the trade-off for Bruce not living in the city was that they give their nanotechnology over to Bruce to see if he can use it in his research. Which was fine with Tony, whatever it took to get his buddy back.

As Tony worked on their suite some of the Avengers would swing by and ask what he was doing.

"Just getting a space ready for the Big Guy. I want Bruce to be as comfortable here as he is in Japan." Tony would tell them.

The Avengers accepted his answer without question. Once Thaddeus Ross resigned and handed the reins of the Avengers over to Everett Ross, Tony called Bruce to tell him the good news.

"Okay, Buddy, everything is set on this end, Thaddeus Ross is out and Everett Ross is our new boss. So I figured I'll take the Quinjet to Japan, help you guys load everything up and fly you guys back. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah that's fine, Tony, how long will it take for you to get here?" Bruce asked.

"About 20 minutes, I left a long time ago."

"Really, Tony, you couldn't have called earlier?"

"Hey be happy I didn't just show up at your doorstep, it was Pepper who made me call anyway."

"Oh is Pepper with you?"

"Yeah, she tagged along this time, ow, Pepper, don't slap me when I'm flying!"

Bruce laughed at hearing Tony whining, "Alright, I'll send a car to pick you up at the airport."

"Ooh, a driver, fancy."

"Shut up, Tony, listen, do you and Pepper want to stay with us, we have plenty of room, or would you prefer a hotel?"

Tony was quiet for a moment, then he came back on the phone, "No we'll stay with you guys."

"Great, we'll see you in a while then," Bruce tells Tony.

Okay, Buddy, see you then."

When Tony hung up he put turned to talk to Pepper, she was sitting in the chair next to him.

"So, Bruce has a girlfriend?" Pepper asked.

"He sure does, and he's totally in love with her."

"That's great for him, but what about Natasha?"

"What about Spider Bites? Look, Pep, Natasha was all wrong for Bruce, she could never have made him happy. At the time they were just two lonely people looking for comfort. What he has with Kagome, that's her name, by the way, is real. You can see it a mile away, she's good for him, she helped him and Big Green come to an understanding. How she did it, I don't know, but she did what no one has been able to accomplish, she tamed Hulk."

"That's amazing, so does that mean, Bruce is less dangerous now," Pepper asked.

"Sure does, Honey, now strap yourself in we're coming in for a landing."

It's 8:00 in the evening when Tony and Pepper land, Tony help Pepper out of the Quinjet and then they go through customs. Once they finish with that, Tony spots the car that will take them to Bruce and Kagome's apartment. The driver takes their bags and puts them in the trunk then opens the door for them, once their settle the driver takes off. It takes about an hour to get to Bruce and Kagome's apartment due to the traffic. Tony and Pepper take the opportunity to take a quick nap.

Once they arrived at the apartment building, the driver wakes both Tony and Pepper. The doorman opens the car door for Tony and Pepper then takes their bags out of the trunk.

"Welcome to the Roppongi Hills Residences, Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts, Dr. Banner informed us that you would be arriving this evening. If you would please follow me I'll take you to their apartment.

"Thank you."

They arrive at Bruce and Kagome's apartment, the doorman leaves their luggage by the door. Tony rings the doorbell then turns to Pepper.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Kagome is a lot younger than Bruce so don't freak out."

"What? I wouldn't-"

"Shh," Tony tells her right when the door opens.

"Brucie, it's so good to see you!"

"Hey, Tony, Hello Pepper, how are you?"

"We're good, Bruce, thank you," Pepper said.

"Please come in."

Bruce steps aside and allows Tony and Pepper to enter, Pepper kisses Bruce on the cheek as she enters.

"So, where's the little woman?" Tony asked.

"If you mean Kagome, she's in the kitchen finishing up dinner. We figured you two would be hungry after your long flight.

"Yeah, starved."

"Well, come on in everything should be ready," Bruce said.

Bruce took their bags and led them inside, "You must be tired, let me take you to your room so you can freshen up."

Tony and Pepper nod and follow Bruce upstairs, he takes them to the guest room and shows them where everything is then left. Pepper takes out some clothes then goes to take a shower while Tony lies down for a bit. Once Pepper is out of the shower Tony takes his turn.

As Tony and Pepper are freshening up, Bruce goes downstairs to see how dinner is going, "Everything ready, Honey," Bruce asks.

"Yep, we just need to wait for your friends," Kagome said with a smile.

Bruce wraps his arms around Kagome's waist and hugs her from behind, he kisses her temple, "Are you nervous about moving?"

"No, I'm actually looking forward to our next adventure together. I think it's going to very interesting to see how your friends react to you having such a young girlfriend."

"Honestly, I don't care how they react, they don't have to like it they just have to accept it," Bruce tells Kagome as he turns her around and kisses her.

"Well, I like it and accept it," Tony said as he walked into the kitchen.

Pepper slapped Tony's arm, "I'm so sorry about him, hi, I'm Pepper Potts." Pepper said and offers her hand.

Kagome steps out of Bruce's arms and shakes Pepper's hand, "Hello, I'm Kagome Higurashi, it's nice to meet you, Pepper."

"It's nice to meet you too, Kagome. You have a lovely home, I hope you and Bruce like the suite that Tony set up for you at the compound."

Kagome smiled brightly, "I'm sure we will, thank you, Tony."

Tony shrugs, "Thank me when you see it, now let's eat I'm starving."

"Sure why don't you and Pepper have a seat, Bruce and I will serve."

The dinner consisted of grilled mackerel, meat and potato stew, cucumber salad, miso soup, and brown rice. Kagome serves green tea with the meal, for dessert they had a nice fruit salad.

Once the meal was over they went to the living room where Bruce fixed everyone drinks and they sat around and Tony and Pepper got to know Kagome a little better. They talked about she had been working for Taisho industries for years and how she was one of the top executives in the company, which really impressed Pepper considering that Kagome was so young.

Tony was looking between Kagome and Bruce watching how they interacted with each other. He noticed that they were always unconsciously touching and always holding hands. He suddenly wanted to know how was it they were able to have a normal relationship with the Hulk involved. From his experience, Hulk didn't really like anyone. Pepper was in the process of explaining to Kagome what it was like living with the Avengers when Tony interrupted.

"I want to know how you guys make your relationship work with the Big Guy. I mean last time I saw him he really wasn't all that fond of other people."

Kagome stared at Tony for a few seconds then giggled, "Oh, Tony, Hulk isn't like that at all. He's just a big teddy bear now, I'm sure that Bruce told you that he doesn't need to be angry to transform anymore. So, when Hulk comes out he's nice and calm and he likes me a lot. As a matter of fact, before he knew my name he would call me pretty girl."

Kagome purposely left out the part where Hulk called her pink, she didn't want to have to explain about her powers to two stranger, no matter how friendly they were.

"To be quite honest, Hulk knew that Bruce liked me before Bruce did and told me so. He said I was Bruce's mate."

"He did?" All three of them said in unison

Kagome turned to Bruce, "Oops I thought I told you that."

"No, you didn't."

"It must have slipped my mind."

Tony looked at Bruce and smirked, "Well you learn something new every day."

Bruce blushed and glared at the billionaire, who only laughed. Their conversation went on for a while until Pepper announced that if they were going to get an early start in the morning they had better go to bed. They all said goodnight and went to bed.

The next day, Tony, Bruce, Pepper, and Kagome started taking boxes down to the moving truck that was waiting outside the apartment building. There were only a few boxes so they were done by mid-morning. Tony drove to the airport and they quickly loaded everything into the Quinjet. Once everyone was seated and strapped in and Tony got the all clear, they were off. It took 12 hours and 45 minutes for them to get to New York, at which time Tony took the autopilot off and flew the Quinjet to the Avenger's Compound.

He landed the Quinjet and steered it into the hanger. Once the had come to a complete stop, Tony looked out the window and noticed that all the Avengers had gathered to greet their returning comrade including one Natasha Romanoff.

"Ah, shit," Was all Tony said.


	20. The Competition

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR THE AVENGERS, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM.**

Natasha had arrived that morning from her mission. She went to her room to change and unwind when Clint knocked on her door.

"Hey welcome back, how did it go?"

Natasha was standing in front of the mirror brushing out her hair when she answered, "Thanks, it went as well as could be expected. Anything new going on around here?"

Clint paused, he walked into Natasha's room and sat down on her bed. He looked at her through the mirror, "Nat, Tony found him."

Natasha paused for a moment, then continued to brush her hair, "Found who?"

"You know who, Bruce."

"Oh yeah, where?"

"In Japan, apparently the Quinjet crash landed in Tokyo."

"And?"

"And, Tony made arrangements for him to come home."

"What about Ross?"

"Ross stepped down and named Everett Ross as his successor. Evidently, Tony came across some very interesting blackmail information on Ross, forcing him to step down."

Natasha began to apply her makeup then looked at Clint, "Good for Bruce."

"That's all you're going to say?"

"What else do you want me to say, Clint?"

"Oh I don't know maybe something along the lines as you missed him, and that you still love him?"

"Love is for children, Clint, I've told you that before."

Clint nods and stands up, "Oh, okay, then I guess it won't affect you at all to know that he's coming home today. Tony radioed us and told us they should be arriving sometime tonight."

Clint then leaves Natasha to her thoughts.

Natasha watched Clint leave through the mirror and sighs. At hearing that in a few short hours, Bruce would be arriving her heart had sped up. She honestly didn't know what she felt for Bruce anymore, it had been two long years since his departure. Could they go back to how it was before he left, she had to wonder. She decided that she was going to see how things went when she saw Bruce and not think about it until then.

So for the rest of the day Natasha rested, ate and stayed in her room. She tried not to think about Bruce, but her mind kept wandering to him. She wondered if he had changed if he had missed her? And there was a tiny part of her that wondered if they could pick up where they left off.

Natasha shook her head, "Don't set yourself up for disappointment," She told herself.

She finally couldn't take it anymore and decided that she should go socialize with everyone else instead of sitting in her room alone. She asked FRIDAY where the Avengers were gathered.

 ****They are all in the living room watching a movie**** FRIDAY informed her.

Natasha makes her way to the living room and sits down next to Clint, he wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in closer trying to comfort her. They go back to watching the movie. Fifteen minutes before 8:00 FRIDAY makes an announcement.

 ****Mr. Stark's Quinjet has just entered American airspace, they will be landing at the compound in fifteen minutes.****

Steve stood up and stretched, "I guess we should get ready to welcome back Bruce."

Everyone else agrees with Steve and gets up to head down to the hanger to meet the Quinjet when it lands. As Clint is leaving the living room he notices that Natasha is just sitting there on the sofa. He turns back and goes to sit by her. Clint puts an arm around Natasha's shoulders.

"You alright?"

Natasha takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "Yeah."

"Are you nervous about seeing Bruce again?"

"Why would I be nervous?"

"Because you love-"

Natasha glares at Clint.

"Alright, you care for him."

"No."

"Then this should be easy for you," Clint tells her.

"It is."

"Alright, then let's go."

Natasha nods and follows Clint out to the hanger.

Exactly 15 minutes later, Tony pulls the Quinjet into the hanger.

"Ah shit, hey, Bruce, don't look now but the welcoming committee is here."

Bruce makes his way to the front of the Quinjet, "Oh yeah and who's on this committee?"

"Oh… everyone."

"Well, that's nice of them."

Tony gives Bruce an incredulous look, "You're not worried about Natasha?"

"No, why should I be?"

"Oh, I don't know, cause she might kill Kagome."

Bruce smiles, "I seriously doubt that besides Kagome is more than capable of taking care of herself."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah."

"Okay, this should be interesting."

Tony cuts off the engines then opens the doors on the back of the Quinjet. He gets up and wakes up Pepper, and Bruce does the same to Kagome. Both women stir from their sleep and yawn.

"What is it, Tony," Pepper asked.

"We're home, come on everyone is waiting outside.

Pepper's eyes widen, "Everyone?"

"EVERYONE," Tony emphasizes.

Pepper looks over at Bruce and Kagome, "Oh my goodness."

"Yep, so I think we should get off first."

"Okay," Pepper whispers, then in a louder voice she says, "We'll meet you two down at the bottom."

"Okay."

Bruce helps Kagome out of her seat belt then hugs her, "You ready to meet everyone, because they're all waiting outside."

Kagome takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "Yeah, I'm ready, lead the way, love."

Bruce smiles and kisses her, he takes her hand and they slowly make their way out of the Quinjet. They pause at the exit and Kagome tells Bruce that he should go first.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, let them say hello to you first," Kagome tells him with a smile.

Bruce nods kiss Kagome again, then walks out of the Quinjet.

While Bruce and Kagome were talking, Tony and Pepper are surrounded by the Avengers.

"Welcome back, Tony, Pepper," Rhodey said.

"Thanks, Buddy."

Steve steps forward, Yeah, welcome back, so where's Bruce?"

"Oh, he should be along in just a minute," Tony tells them.

Tony looks at everyone, but his eyes zero in on Natasha, she looks anxious despite herself. He actually feels bad for her, but that's life, you win some you lose some.

After a couple of seconds, Bruce emerges from the Quinjet, everyone turns to Bruce, they all rush forward and surround him. They each take turns to embrace him and welcome him home. The only ones that haven't approached him are Bucky and Natasha. Once everyone has welcomed him home, Natasha walks up to him and gives him hug.

"Welcome home, Bruce." She goes to kiss him on the lips but he turns his head at the last second so that she kisses his cheek.

"Uh, thanks, Natasha, it's nice to be home." He said uncomfortably.

While all this is going on, Kagome is standing just inside the entrance of the Quinjet observing. She's able to recognize practically everyone by the description that Tony and Pepper gave of them. As she looks on she noticed two figures standing apart from everyone else. One a red-haired woman and the other a man with a metal arm. The man with the metal arm catches her attention.

'They must be Natasha Romanoff and Bucky Barnes.' Kagome thinks.

Without even flaring her aura, she can see that James is suffering a great deal. Her heart immediately goes out to him and that need she has to help people flare up in her. She decides to flare her aura anyway just to get a better picture on Bucky Barnes, what she sees saddens her.

She was right the man is suffering. She can tell that he's old, older than he looks, that he feels lost and confused. That he's suffering from PTSD and depression. She can also tell that he considers himself a monster. Kagome immediately starts thinking of ways in which she can help Bucky Barnes.

Her thoughts are brought back to what's going on when she hears, Steve Rogers announced that they should go inside to catch up.

"Okay, Steve just holds on a sec," Bruce said as he goes back into the Quinjet. He takes Kagome's hand.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Meanwhile, the others look at each other confused, Sam looks at Steve, "What are we waiting for?"

Tony smirks, Oh you'll see."

At that precise moment Bruce comes out of the Quinjet holding the hand of a beautiful Asian woman, Sam leans over to Clint and whispers…

"Does Bruce have a daughter?"

Clint shrugs.

Bruce and Kagome reach everyone, and he smiles brightly, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Kagome Higurashi…my girlfriend."

You could have heard a pin drop it was suddenly so quiet. Everyone was stunned, especially Clint and Natasha. They all stood there and stared at Kagome in complete and utter disbelief. Until finally, Steve remembered his manners. He picked his jaw up off the floor and stepped forward.

Clearing his throat, he stuck his hand out and spoke, "Miss Higurashi, it's nice to meet you, ma'am, I'm Steve Rogers."

Kagome smiled brightly and takes his hand, "It's nice to meet you, Steve."

Steve couldn't help but return the smile, "The pleasure is mine."

After hearing Steve make his introduction, that unfroze the rest of the Avengers. Each one came up and introduced themselves to Kagome, she shook their hands enthusiastically and beamed at them, infecting them with her smile. The next to the last one to make his introduction was Bucky, Steve dragged him over towards Kagome and introduced him.

"And this is our newest Avenger, Bucky Barnes."

Kagome gave him the biggest smile and took his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bucky."

"Likewise, Miss Higurashi," Bucky mumbled.

"Please, call me Kagome. Please, all of you call me Kagome."

Bucky gave her a small smile.

Natasha watched Kagome's interaction with Bucky and her eyes narrowed. She didn't like the fact that she was a little too enthusiastic to meet Bucky in particular. Natasha decided right then and there that Kagome wasn't good enough for Bruce and that she didn't like or trust her.

After Bucky stepped away from Kagome, Natasha sauntered up to her, she stuck her hand out and introduces herself.

"Hello, I'm Natasha Romanoff, it's nice to meet you," Natasha said in a sickly sweet voice.

Kagome instantly got a bad feeling from Natasha, she just knew that Natasha was going to cause her problems, but she took Natasha's hand and shook it. Though the minute they grasped hand Natasha squeezed hard, not to be outdone, Kagome squeezed back.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Romanoff," Kagome said plastering on a fake smile.

"Likewise, Miss. Higurashi."

Everyone notice the test of strength between Kagome and Natasha and were worried that Natasha was going to hurt Kagome, so Tony took it upon himself to break it up.

"Okay, enough with the introductions, how about we head inside and get these two settled?"

Steve immediately responded, "Uh, yeah, no sense in us standing around. Come on Nat, let's order some take out and give Bruce and Kagome time to rest."

Natasha looked at Steve and let go of Kagome's hand, she smirked at Kagome then sauntered over toward Bruce, her hips swaying.

"Yeah, Cap let's order take out," She takes Bruce's hand, "You still like Indian food?"

Bruce carefully pulls his hand out of Natasha's and goes to stand next to Kagome, taking her hand instead, "Actually I prefer Japanese food."

Tony smirks, "Japanese it is then."

Steve frowns, "How about we order both?"

Tony rolls his eyes, Fine, FRIDAY, place an order for Japanese and Indian food, please."

 ****Right away, Boss.****

After that Tony and Pepper showed Bruce and Kagome to their suite, the rest of the Avengers went to the living room. Only Natasha stayed in the hanger, she crossed her arms and watched as Bruce and Kagome left hand in hand.

She scowled at Kagome, "Bitch."

Then she turned and followed the other Avengers.

Tony and Pepper showed Bruce and Kagome to their suite. Tony opened the door with a flourish and stepped back.

"Ta-da."

Bruce and Kagome walked in and looked around. It was perfect, it had just the right amount of Eastern style but not enough that it made the suite look like a curio shop. And it also had a Western style, but it was not too overwhelming. It was painted in beautiful earth tone colors that gave it a relaxing feel. Kagome felt instantly at home, she looked at Bruce and smiled, then she looked at Tony and Pepper.

"I love it, thank you very much, Tony, you did a wonderful job."

Tony smiled back, You're welcome, I knew you would love it. What do you think, Buddy?"

Bruce looked around, "It's definitely not as outspoken as you would normally do something."

"If this suite was for me it would have been totally different, but I figured you'd like something relaxing to come home to," Tony remarked.

"No, you're right about that, and this suits that purpose just fine. I like it a lot."

"I'm glad you like it. Well, I think Pepper and I will let you two relax until the food gets here, FRIDAY will call you when it arrives."

"Okay, Tony, and thanks again," Bruce tells him then gives Tony a hug.

After Tony and Pepper leave, Bruce and Kagome sit down on the sofa with a sigh. Kagome leans against Bruce and relaxes, Bruce intertwines their fingers and kisses the top of her head.

"So Hulk let me know that you flared your aura, did you pick up something interesting?"

Kagome looks up at Bruce, "As a matter of fact I did, a great deal of suffering."

"From whom?"

"Bucky Barnes."

"You're not wrong about that, poor guy has spent the last 70 years of his life as a weapon for Hydra. He was captured in WWII and brainwashed, my understanding is that he has done some truly horrific things. Including assassinating Tony's parents."

Kagome gasped and covered her mouth, "Oh how awful for poor Tony! And he actually lets Bucky stay here?"

Bruce nodded, "It took Tony a while but he finally came to understand that it wasn't Bucky that killed his parents but the Winter Soldier. That's what Hydra called their ultimate weapon. They were constantly having to brainwash the poor guy."

"So now he lives with the guilt of what he's done."

Bruce nodded and continues to play with Kagome's fingers, he suddenly stops and looks at her.

"You want to help him as you help us."

"Yes, I do, I can purify his soul and help him overcome his PTSD and depression.

"Are you sure you can?"

"Positive."

"Then by all means, if he accepts your help, help him."

Kagome reaches up and kisses Bruce's chin, "Thank you."

"Anytime."

There was a long pause, Kagome looked up at Bruce, he had his eyes closed and she bit her lip, then decided to tell him what was on her mind.

"Natasha doesn't like me."

Bruce sighed and opened his eyes, "What makes you think that?"

"Aside from the fact that she challenged me with just a simple handshake? The way she approached you as if to rub it in my face that you two were once together."

"We were never together, we were going to try, but it didn't work out. I admit I had feelings for her but she betrayed me when she forced me to Hulk out. Besides that's all in the past, I love you, Kagome, with all of my heart."

"I love you too…it's too bad she doesn't like me, she's suffering too, I may have been able to help her as well."

"Natasha never would have accepted your help," Bruce tells her.

"I think you're right."

"Let's not talk about the others anymore. How about you and I go take a shower and freshen up, then we'll have dinner with the others unload the Quinjet then go to bed?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Kagome tells Bruce.

He then stands up and offers his hand to Kagome, she takes it and they both head into the bathroom to take a shower. Lucky for them they at least brought their suitcases so that they had a change of clothes. They go into the bathroom, get out of their clothes and enjoy a nice hot relaxing shower together.


	21. Hide and Seek

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR THE AVENGERS, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM**

While Bruce and Kagome are enjoying their shower together, Natasha was sitting around with the rest of the Avengers waiting for the food to arrive. They were all sitting in silence until Sam finally broke the tension.

"Well, that was an unexpected turn of events."

"Yeah, I was definitely not expecting Bruce to show up with a girlfriend young enough to be his daughter, that's something Tony would have done," Clint said as he twirled one of his arrows.

"She may be younger than him but I've never seen Bruce look so happy," Steve commented.

"Yeah, they actually look good together," Rhodey added.

"I don't like her," Natasha mumbles.

"You don't like anyone, but Clint," Sam tells her and receives a death glare.

"She seems like a nice person."

"Who seems like a nice person?" Wanda asks as she and Vision enter the living room.

Everyone turned to look at them and Clint suddenly realized that Bruce wasn't very fond of the Scarlet Witch.

"Oh shit, I forgot all about you."

"Gee, thank you very much, Clint," Wanda said.

"I didn't mean it that way, I meant that we might have a problem," Clint looked at his watch, "In I'd say 30 minutes."

"Why is that, Clint," Vision asked.

It suddenly dawned on Steve what Clint was talking about, "Damn, maybe you shouldn't be here right now, Wanda."

"Why don't you guys want me here, what's going on?"

"Bruce is back, he just got back a little while ago."

Wanda's eyes widen, "Oh."

"Nah, it should be okay," Tony said as he and Pepper come into the living room.

"How do you know that, Tony," Rhodey asked.

"Oh, I just have a feeling that everything will be just fine."

"We can't go on a feeling, Tony, what if Bruce sees Wanda and goes code green?" Steve asked.

"Not gonna happen," Tony said confidently.

"How do you know?"

"I just do, trust me on this."

"I don't think-"

At that moment Bruce and Kagome come into the living room, the whole team turned to look at Bruce to see his reaction when he saw Wanda. Bruce looked at everyone then at Kagome.

"What's going on, why are you all staring at me?"

That's when he noticed Steve trying to casually stand in front of Wanda with Vision standing next to her.

"Oh, you're here."

The tension was so thick in the room you could cut it with a knife, they were all waiting for Hulk to make an appearance, well, except Tony. Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.

"Look, I'm not going to go code green just because she's here. If you all let her on the team I can accept that I don't like it, but I can accept it. I have no hard feeling towards you anymore, Miss Maximoff."

Everyone sighed out in relief, Wanda smiles at Bruce, but Bruce frowns.

"Just because I have no hard feelings, doesn't mean I like you. Maybe with time, that will change, but for now, I just don't. But you have nothing to worry about with Hulk."

Wanda nods her head, "Okay."

Tony suddenly clapped his hands loudly, "Okay now that that's settled where's the food?"

 ****The food has just arrived, Boss,**** FRIDAY announces.

"Perfect timing, come on Bruce, you and Rhodey can help me bring in the food."

While Bruce, Rhodey and Tony went to go get the food, Pepper led Kagome into the living room where she introduced her to Wanda and Vision.

"Hello, Wanda, it's nice to meet you, I'm Kagome Higurashi, Bruce's girlfriend," Kagome said with a smile and offered her hand.

Wanda smiled back and shook Kagome's hand, "It's nice to meet you too, Miss. Higurashi."

Kagome then introduced herself to Vision, who did the same. About that time Bruce, Tony, and Rhodey come back into the living room with all the take out. They head for the kitchen with everyone following them. Setting everything down on the island, everyone grabs a plate and begins to serve themselves. Bruce and Kagome wait until everyone else has served themselves before they grab something to eat. While they wait, Bruce made them some green tea to go along with their meal.

When everyone had served themselves and gone to sit down, Kagome served herself and Bruce. They went and sat with Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey. Everyone was having their own conversations amongst themselves, but every now and then Natasha would watch Kagome and Bruce interact and her eyes would narrow.

"I see you don't like Bruce's girlfriend," Wanda said as she sat down next to Natasha.

"I don't trust her and I don't like her," Natasha told her friend.

Wanda raised an eyebrow, waiting for Natasha to elaborate.

"She was a little too friendly with Bucky when they arrived, and what is a girl her age doing with Bruce in the first place?"

"So you think she is playing with Banner… Would you like me to see?"

Natasha didn't say anything, she just looked at Wanda and raised an eyebrow, Wanda took that as a yes. Wanda got up and left the room, a few seconds later, Natasha followed.

"What are you doing," Natasha asked.

"I want to probe her mind away from Bruce, just in case."

Natasha nodded.

Wanda began to let her telepathic powers flow and tried to enter Kagome's mind. But the minute Wand's mind touched Kagome's, she was thrown violently out of it. So much so, the force of it threw Wanda across the room. Natasha rushed forward to check on the young woman.

"What happened?"

"She has some formidable mental shields, I couldn't get past them."

"Her shield threw you across the room?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, I have never seen anything like that."

This only made Natasha even more suspicious, what was she hiding?

In the meantime, Kagome had felt the presence but was confident enough in her shield not to worry about it, Ever since she had been taken over by Tsubaki and Akago she had worked with Sesshomaru to help build up her mental defenses. Now nothing could get through unless she allowed it. So when she felt the presence her spiritual powers automatically ejected the presence from her mind.

Kagome didn't even react to what had just happened, she continued to eat and make small talk with Tony and Pepper. When they had finished eating they moved into the living room in order to talk more comfortably. Bruce and Kagome went and sat on the sofa, while the rest of the Avengers spread out. They were all dying to ask Bruce and Kagome questions so Steve decided to go first.

"So, where did you two guys meet?" Clint asked.

"We met on my family's shrine in Tokyo, he was a little lost and confused so I offered him a place to stay," Kagome told them as she looks up at Bruce and smiles.

It wasn't a total lie, they did meet at the shrine and she did help him out. Kagome just failed to mention that she met Hulk first. She figured it wasn't necessary for them to know that, after all, it made no difference to her who she met first, she loved them both.

"How long have you guys been together?" Sam asked.

"We've been together for a year and a half but have known each other for two years," Bruce answered.

"What were you doing in Japan, Dr. Banner?" Vision asked.

"Oh, well, Kagome was able to help me get a work visa and I got a job as a scientist at Taisho Industries, where Kagome works. I was doing cancer research for them, it was a great experience."

He wasn't going to tell them he actually made a breakthrough, Bruce wasn't allowed to say anything about the cure. They continued to talk for a while telling them everything that had been going on since he was gone every now and then asking him questions. But as the night wore on, Kagome started getting sleepy so Bruce called it a night. They decided to unload the Quinjet in the morning with the help of the others. Bruce and Kagome said their goodnights and went to their new home.

The Avengers sat there for a while longer, until Tony stood up and stretched.

"Well, it was a long flight, Pepper and I are going to bed too, goodnight all," He and Pepper left the room, but then Tony sticks his head back in.

"I told you nothing would happen with Bruce and Wanda, should have bet money on it."

The next day, Kagome was up bright and early. she made a simple breakfast for her and Bruce then went to wake him up. Bruce was asleep on his stomach when Kagome came back into the room. She smiles at the sight of him, then smacks him on the butt.

"Wake up sleepy head, it's time for breakfast."

Bruce lifts his head to look at Kagome. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Bruce rolls over onto his back. He then grabs Kagome and pulls her on top of him.

"It's too early, let's go back to sleep."

"No, I made breakfast, we need to eat, get ready and go unload the jet thingy."

Bruce laughs, "Quinjet, Honey."

"Fine, Quinjet, we still have to unload it."

"Okay then let me go to the bathroom."

Kagome gets off of Bruce and heads back to the kitchen. She puts on a fresh pot of coffee, while it's brewing, she takes everything to the kitchen table, then goes back for the coffee. By this time, Bruce has come out of the bathroom after doing his business and brushing his teeth, he kisses Kagome.

"Morning, Sweetheart."

"Morning, Baby."

They sit down and enjoy a quiet breakfast together. While they're eating Bruce looks up at Kagome, "So what are we doing today?"

"Well, we need to unload, the jet thingy."

"Quinjet."

"Whatever, then put everything away, after that we can do whatever you want."

Bruce pauses for a moment, then he looks at Kagome, "Hulk wants to come out and play."

"Great, then we can play hide and seek in the woods. If you want we can do that after we unload the Quinjet."

"He says yes," Bruce tells her.

"Okay, then."

Right at that moment, they hear someone knocking on their door, Kagome gets up to answer the door. When she does she finds Tony standing there, Tony smiles at Kagome and greets her.

"Good morning, Kagome."

"Good morning, Tony care to join us for breakfast?"

"Sure, I also came to see if you guys were going to need any help unloading?" Tony asked as he makes his way to the table and sits down opposite Bruce.

"Yeah, we could use all the help we can get," Bruce said to his best friend.

"Okay, I'm sure the others will help out as well, FRIDAY, ask the Avengers if they want to help Bruce and Kagome unload the Quinjet?"

 ****Right away, Boss... The Avengers would be happy to help.**** FRIDAY informs Tony.

"Then let them know we'll get started after breakfast."

They finish breakfast and meet up with the rest of the Avengers at the Quinjet. Kagome thanks them for their help and they get started taking the boxes down from the Quinjet and taking them to Bruce and Kagome's suite. Each box is clearly labeled so each Avenger knew where to go. It still took two hours to unload everything, the last thing to take down was a very large yellow backpack and a bow. Clint went back into the Quinjet to pick up the backpack, his eyes landed on the bow and they widen. Picking up the longbow, he examines it. Clint can tell that it's very old and very well taken care of.

"I wonder if Kagome is any good," Clint asks himself. He had to find out.

Taking the bow with him and the backpack, he gets off the Quinjet and heads over to Kagome.

"You shoot?"

Kagome takes the bow from him and examines it. She looks at him and smiles, "Yes I do."

"Are you any good?"

"Fair."

"Hey, well, Tony built a shooting range for me, maybe I can give you some pointers?"

"That would be great, I'm always willing to improve. Oh, and thanks for all your help today, Bruce and I appreciate it."

"No problem," With that Clint left.

Kagome goes and puts it away, she comes back into the living room where Bruce is sitting. She goes to sit next to him and cuddles into his side.

"So, Clint found my bow."

"Did he challenge you to a shooting contest?"

"No, he asked if he could give me a few pointers."

Bruce looked at Kagome, "And you're going to let him?"

"Yeah, why not, it could be fun."

Bruce chuckles and kisses her head.

Kagome stands up and reaches out for Bruce, "Ready to let Hulk stretch his legs?"

"Yep, let's go," Bruce said as he took Kagome's hand.

They end up going to the back of the compound close to the woods. Kagome brought Bruce a change of clothes and a towel for when he transformed back. Bruce and Kagome face each other, then Bruce takes a deep breath and lets Hulk take over. In an instant Hulk is standing in front of Kagome, he looks at her and smiles bringing a finger up to caress her cheek.

" 'Gome."

"Hi, Hulk."

Just as Kagome was about to grab Kagome's hand, they hear an alarm go off. They both turn to see the Avengers rushing out to confront Hulk. Steve sees Kagome is really close to Hulk.

"Kagome, get back, we'll handle this," Steve yells as he rushes to put himself between Kagome and Hulk

Kagome and Hulk just look at each other, then suddenly Kagome is suddenly yanked away from Hulk by Natasha.

"Didn't you hear Steve, you stupid girl, get back!"

Natasha used as much force as she could to throw Kagome down into the dirt and get her away from Hulk. Well, this did not sit well with Hulk, he roared and started beating his chest then stomping his fist on the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked as he flew overhead

"I don't know, but I'll calm him down," Natasha tells the team.

She begins slowly walking up to Hulk, who is still roaring,

"Hey, big guy, Sun's getting real low," Natasha says and reaches out for Hulk.

Hulk narrows his eyes at Natasha, he roars and pounds the ground right next to her. Natasha's eyes widen and she throws herself to the side.

"We need a new plan this isn't working."

"GOME!" Hulk roars.

Kagome by this time has gotten to her feet and is looking at the Natasha as if she's an idiot, why is she talking to Hulk like that, if she's the one pissing him off?

Hulk roars again, "GOME!"

Natasha realizes what Hulk is saying and looks at Kagome, "It's her, she's the one upsetting Hulk! Get her out of here!"

"Me, are you insane? We were just fine until you showed up, Oh for Kami's sake I'll handle this."

Kagome pushes past Natasha and goes up to Hulk, "Are you finished?" she asked him in an irritated tone.

Hulk instantly calms down, "Yes."

Everyone on the team is shocked that Hulk had instantly calmed down for Kagome, except Tony who has been silent this entire time. He had been wanting to see the interaction between Kagome and Hulk since Bruce told him what had happened. So, he decided just to watch and see what happened.

Kagome smiles at Hulk, "Now do you want to apologize to Natasha for scaring her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Tasha hurt Gome."

Kagome turned around and looked at Natasha who's mouth is hanging open, "Oh that, I didn't get hurt, Hulk, a little dirty, but that's okay," Kagome got closer to Hulk and asked him to lean down so she could whisper in his ear, "She couldn't hurt me if she tried." Kagome said with a cheeky grin.

Hulk startled to chuckle and ran his finger down Kagome's cheek. Kagome places her hand on his finger to hold there.

"Gome," Hulk said softly.

She turns her head and kisses his finger, "Now do you still want to play?"

Hulk grunted and nods

"Alright, do you want to play hide and seek?"

Hulk smiled and nodded again.

"Then let's go play."

With that, Kagome took hold of Hulk's finger and they went into the woods to play, leaving a dumbfounded team behind.

"What just happened," Sam asked when he landed.

"I don't know but I'm going to go see if I can play with them too, " Tony said over his comm, then he lifts his faceplate and yells,

"Hey guys I wanna play hide and seek too, can I play?" Then fly off after Hulk and Kagome.


	22. Jolly Green Giant

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR THE AVENGER, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS. I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM.**

Tony was running for his life, looking to find somewhere to hide. It was Hulk's turn to be "it" and Tony was determined not to get caught by the green behemoth. But where to hide from the Jolly Green Giant? He finally spotted a fallen hollowed out log, Tony gave a cry of victory and dove for the opening. He crawled in as far as he could and stayed perfectly still.

It was a good thing Tony had taken off his Iron Man suit or else he never would have fit. Tony was lying there perfectly still, listening to see if he could hear Hulk approaching. Suddenly he heard the thudding of large feet against the ground and knew that Hulk was close. Tony carefully peered out of the hole to see if he could see where Hulk was, he suddenly pulled back when he saw two enormous green feet standing right in front of the log. The feet shuffled for a minute as if Hulk was looking for something then he walked off.

A triumphant smirk appeared on Tony's face, he waited for a little bit then started to crawl out of the log. Without warning, the log is lifted in the air with Tony still in it.

"Holy Shit!" Tony cried.

Then he heard a deep rumbling laugh, "Got you, Tin Man."

"You sure did, Buddy, now would you put me down, please?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, pretty please with sugar on top. I'll let you beat up Thor next time he's here."

Hulk chuckled and put the log down so that Tony could get out. He was dirty and sweaty but he was having fun, Tony looked up at Hulk and grinned. He couldn't believe the change in Hulk…yes he could. Kagome was good for him, for both of them, it was obvious in the short time that he had known her.

Tony and Hulk started walking back base, he reached up and patted Hulk on the arm, "Good game, Buddy, did you find Kagome?"

Hulk shook his head.

"Guess that makes me "it." Do you want to keep playing?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, this time we'll see if anyone else wants to play."

Hulk chuckled and ruffled Tony's hair with his finger causing Tony to give out an indignant huff. When they got back to base, Kagome was waiting for them leaning against the tree that they used as base. A little further away stood most of the Avengers watching, still stunned at what they were seeing. They watched as Hulk and Tony came out of the woods, Hulk smiling and chuckling about something.

"Hulk seems totally relaxed, why isn't he turning back into Bruce?" Clint asked.

"I don't know, maybe he can't," Steve answered.

"I don't think that's the case, otherwise his girlfriend would be panicking. She's completely relaxed like this is an everyday occurrence." Rhodey pointed out.

When Tony and Hulk reached the tree, Tony noticed that everyone was still rooted in their same spots, the only one that was missing was Natasha. No surprise there.

"Tony smirked and waved them over, "Hey guys, what are you doing, don't just stand there. Come on join in the fun."

They all looked at each other, not sure what to do until finally, Clint caved.

"You know what, fuck it, I'm playing. I play this all the time with my kids, what's the difference?"

"Yeah, it looks like fun, I'm in too," Sam said.

"I never get to act like a kid, now is a good a time as any, count me in too," Rhodey said as he followed Clint and Sam.

"I have never played this game, I would like to try it," Vison commented.

"Why not?" Steve finally said, "Come on, Buddy, you'll have fun," Steve told Bucky.

"No, I'll just watch."

It wasn't that Bucky didn't want to play, he just wasn't too comfortable with everyone yet to let loose. In the end, he sat down in the grass and watched the other play hide and seek. After a while the game would change to tag then someone ran inside and got a football and they started playing football. That's when Kagome lost interest, so they had Hulk play quarterback for both teams. And since he threw the ball a little too hard they used their powers and suits.

Kagome saw Bucky sitting up on the hill alone pulling up blades of grass watching them play. She decided to take the opportunity to get to know him better. She walked up the hill and stood in front of him.

"Mind if I join you?"

Bucky didn't bother to look up, he just shrugged and continued what he was doing. Kagome sat down a little ways away from him, they sat there for a while in silence each in their own thoughts. Eventually, Kagome broke the silence.

"Why aren't you playing with them?"

It took a while for Bucky to answer, "I'd rather watch."

Kagome nodded her head. Once again there was silence, it went on for a while until Bucky finally spoke again.

"Why did you stop playing?"

"American football isn't my thing, I would have preferred soccer. That's what played in Japan," Kagome explained.

Bucky just nodded, then went back to ripping up the grass. Suddenly, Kagome and Bucky heard loud laughter from Hulk as all the Avengers try to tackle Hulk but he runs with the ball to where the goal post is with them clinging to him and scores a touchdown. A ghost of a smile crosses Bucky's face, he turns and looks at Kagome who is cheering loudly for Hulk.

"That was very interesting what you did with Hulk. How you were able to get him to instantly calm down."

"Oh that, that wasn't rage that was him being protective and a little angry at what Natasha did. Hulk doesn't feel rage anymore, not since I helped him and Bruce come to terms with their issues."

This piqued Bucky's interest, "Help him, help him how?"

"It's a long story, but basically I made Bruce realize that Hulk was not the monster he thought he was. Once he was able to realize that, Bruce found peace. And the ability to transform at will."

Bucky's eyes widen at the word 'monster.' That's exactly what he thought of himself, no matter what Steve told him, he was still a monster. No matter that Tony forgave him, he was still the monster that killed his parents, and it haunted him every day. So the thought that Kagome was able to help someone that literally was a monster gave Bucky just the tiniest bit of hope.

At that point, Hulk made his way over to Kagome with a wide grin. He greeted Bucky then flopped down next to her and ran his finger down her cheek, she smiled at him and kissed his finger.

"Are you done for the day?"

"Yes, Banner come back now."

"Okay, here are your clothes, go on and change back."

Hulk smiled and carefully kissed the top of Kagome's head, then he ran into the woods. A few minutes later, Bruce came walking out of the woods fully clothed. Walking up the hill he flopped down on Kagome's lap, took her hand and kissed it.

"Did you guys have fun?"

"Oh yeah, it was fun reconnecting with the guys again, Hulk could have played all afternoon, but I told him it was time to get back to work."

"You could have let him, we could have unpacked tomorrow?"

"No, we agreed to let him play, then unpack. He understood that we had to get back to work."

"Alright, do you want to take a nap first?"

"No, I'm good, I would like to eat though."

"Okay, I'll make lunch."

"So, Bucky, how do you like being an Avenger?"

Bucky just shrugged, "I really haven't done anything yet, I'm still on probation. They're mostly sending me to therapy for my PTSD."

Bucky couldn't believe he said that he hadn't told anyone but Steve that he was diagnosed with PTSD, and he had only told Steve because Steve wouldn't leave him alone. But he felt comfortable around Kagome and Bruce and he didn't understand why.

"I know just how hard PTSD can be, Bucky, I had it too, from childhood trauma. And I can tell you from experience that if you don't get help, it will eat you alive. You know, if you want you should come by and we can tell you how Kagome help me with my PTSD and how she helped me with Hulk," Bruce offered.

Bucky thought for a moment, "I'll think about it and let you know."

"Take your time, Bucky, we'll be around," Kagome tells him.

With that, Bruce stands up and helps Kagome up, "Well we need to get going, it was nice talking with you Bucky," Bruce said and shakes his hand.

"Same here."

Kagome shakes Bucky's hand as well, and as she does, she pushes a little bit of her spiritual powers into him to heal him. Not enough to make her glow but enough that he can at least sleep at night without him being plagued by nightmares and for him to feel a little bit at peace. At least for a little while.

After saying goodbye to Bucky and waving to the others Bruce and Kagome walk back into the Avenger's Compound and back to their suite where Kagome gets started on making a late lunch for the both of them. They sit down to have their meal and eat in silence. After a while, Bruce looks up at Kagome and smiles.

"You healed him when you shook his hand, didn't you?"

"How did you know?"

"I know you, I knew you couldn't resist easing his pain at least a little bit. Besides, I felt your spiritual powers a little."

"I had to, he's suffered so much."

Bruce reaches for Kagome's hand and kisses it. " I know you did, you're a priestess, it's in your nature to heal. It's one of the traits I fell in love with. I actually hope he takes us up on our offer."

"I think he will, he just needs some time. Bucky is a man who is in desperate need of friends."

"He has Steve," Bruce said.

Kagome shook her head, "Steve is more of a mother hen than an actual friend and I'm almost positive he smothers Bucky more than he helps him. Bucky needs someone who understands, someone who won't strong arm him, someone who's been through what he has. Maybe not exactly what he has but understands what it feels like to have PTSD."

"And that someone would be us."

"Yes, it would. I've been through a war, and you know what it feels like to consider yourself a monster. Who better than us?"

"I agree, he can talk to us and you can heal him, it's perfect. Now that we have all settled let's get to work and unpack, Bruce said.


	23. Lazy Sunday

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR THE AVENGERS THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM.**

Bruce and Kagome worked the rest of the afternoon unpacking their belongings. They worked well into the evening until finally, they had finished. Once they had everything put away, Kagome made them a simple dinner then they curled up on the sofa and talked about how the day went and what the future might bring.

While they did that, Natasha was in her room fuming. She was pacing her room wondering how that slip of a girl was able to control Hulk when she couldn't.

"I've known Hulk longer, he should have listened to me not her," Natasha said to herself.

"You know, talking to yourself isn't a good sign, Tasha," Clint said as he came into the room.

"Shut up, Barton."

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

"That girl, Kagome, I don't get it, how was she able to calm Hulk down so easily? That used to be something only I could do."

"Well, not anymore. Look Bruce was gone for two years, a lot can change in that time period. And apparently it has, Bruce doesn't need to be angry to change anymore."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when we were playing hide and seek, Hulk was very happy and playful, he wasn't in the least bit angry. Then when he decided it was time for Bruce to come back, he just walked into the woods with a bag and Bruce came out fully dressed. So it's obvious that Bruce has got a handle on this now, and I'm pretty sure Kagome has something to do with it."

"You think she's somehow controlling Hulk?"

"No, I don't, they just have a good relationship. He's very affectionate with her."

At those words, Natasha unconsciously tightened her jaw, but it did not go unnoticed by her partner.

"You're not jealous, are you," Clint asked.

"Of course not, why would I be jealous?"

"Because you have feelings for Bruce and now he's here but with someone else."

"No."

"Okay, but if you need to talk, I'm here for you, Tasha," Clint said as he heads for the door.

"Hey, Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Clint simply nods and walks out.

Natasha sat down on her bed, she still didn't trust Kagome, there was something not right about her.

In another part of the Compound, Bucky was sitting in his room in the dark contemplating Kagome and Bruce. Could they really help him, why would they want to in the first place? If they knew half of the things he had done they would despise him. But on the other hand, Kagome seems very genuine about wanting to help him and so did Bruce.

He had never met two people who unselfishly wanted to help him. There was Steve, but even Steve had his ulterior motives too whether he knew it or not. Steve wanted his best friend back because he too needed a friend, a connection to his past. Bucky also thought that maybe Steve felt that he owed him for all the time Bucky saved him as a kid. Kagome and Bruce didn't want anything from him and that was refreshing.

As Bucky sat in the dark, the idea of talking with Kagome and Bruce started to become more and more appealing to him. He would just have to keep this away from Steve, he didn't need Steve mother-henning him to death.

"I'll have to give it some more thought," Bucky said to himself

He then gets up gets ready for bed and goes to sleep. It was the first time in a very long time that Bucky did not have nightmares and slept peacefully.

The next day was Sunday, a day in which Kagome and Bruce normally slept in. They were sound asleep when they heard FRIDAY's voice.

 ****Dr. Banner, Miss. Higurashi, it's time for breakfast.****

Bruce groaned, "FRIDAY, what time is it?"

** **It's 7 a.m. Dr. Banner****

"Oh, well, tell whoever that Kagome and I aren't interested, we'll have brunch later."

* ***I'm sorry, sir, Boss's orders. Since the Avengers got back together, it has become customary that they share Sunday breakfast together.****

"Well, tell Tony that I don't become an official Avenger until Monday," Bruce said then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Suddenly Tony's voice was heard over the intercom, "No, no, Brucie, wakey, wakey. You need to come join us for breakfast, it a team-building exercise. You and Kagome can go back to sleep afterward, that's what everyone else does. Besides if you don't I'll bug you all day long."

Kagome groaned and lifted her head, "Ugh, alright, fine, Tony we'll be down in a little while."

"Great, hurry up."

Kagome and Bruce snuggled back into the covers, "We'll get up in five more minutes," Bruce mumbled.

"Not five more minutes, now!" Tony said over the intercom.

"Alright, we're getting up! Geez, were you still listening?"

"No, everyone says the same thing."

Ten minutes later, two robe clad figures join a bunch of other robe clad figures in the kitchen for breakfast. They all looked like they were getting ready to fall over and go back to sleep. The only two people that looked well rested were Steve and surprisingly, Bucky. Steve, who had been up since dawn, was in the process of making everyone scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

"Good morning, you two, coffee's ready if you're interested."

They both mumbled their thanks then went and got some coffee. They made their way over and sat with Tony and Pepper. Everyone at the table looked exhausted, so of them even looked hung over, but they all waited patiently until Steved served them breakfast. Meanwhile, Steve happily bustled around the kitchen cooking breakfast, he was so happy to have his team back together. The only person missing was Thor, but he knew the Norse God would show up eventually.

As soon as the bacon, eggs, and pancakes were ready Steve made plates for everyone and set them in front of the drowsy Avengers. Mechanically they started eating and slowly as more coffee passed their lips and the caffeine started to kick in, the Avengers turned into humans again.

"You know, Steve, I forgot how well you cook breakfast," Bruce commented.

"Thank you, Bruce, I'm glad someone appreciates my efforts to bring the team closer together. After everything we've been through, we need this."

"I can understand that but can't it be a Sunday lunch or dinner instead of breakfast?" Bruce asked

"I second that, a Sunday dinner would be a lot better than you having FRIDAY drag us all out of bed at this ungodly hour. No matter how good your pancakes are." Tony said.

Steve thought for a moment, "I don't see why not, the only thing is I'm not that great a cook when it comes to anything other than breakfast."

"I can do the cooking, Steve," Kagome offered, "I may not be an Avenger, but I don't mind helping you guys out with a little cooking."

"Can you cook anything other than Japanese food?" Natasha snarked.

Kagome glared at Natasha, nobody insulted her cooking. She opened her mouth to retort but Bruce beat her to it, he places a hand over Kagome's hand.

"Kagome is an excellent cook, she can make you anything you want. That won't be a problem, Natasha."

Steve clears his throat, "Great, so, starting next Sunday dinner instead of Sunday breakfast."

"Yay," Everyone drowsily cheered.

Steve chuckled at everyone's reaction, he served himself some breakfast and sat down next to Bucky who didn't make a comment one way or the other.

"You okay there, Buddy?"

"Yeah, Punk, just got a lot on my mind."

"When's your next therapy session," Steve asked.

"Tomorrow, but I may not go," Bucky said without looking at Steve.

Kagome looked up from her breakfast when she heard that. She and Bruce exchanged a look.

"What do you mean you're not going you have to, it's part of your probation. Do you want me to go with you?" Steve asked.

"No, I just don't think it's working."

"Give it time, Tony said that this doctor helped him with some of his issues. And from what I read this kind of stuff takes time."

"Yeah, I guess, we'll see."

After breakfast, everyone went back to their rooms and go back to sleep. Kagome and Bruce went back to their suite and went back to sleep until noon. But two hours later they were awakened by the sound of an explosion, immediately FRIDAY informs everyone that it's a false alarm just an explosion in the lab. Kagome groans.

"Do you think we'll be awakened like this every Sunday?" She asked.

"Probably." Bruce answers and rolls over.

"Well, I can't go back to sleep do you think it would be alright if I go use the archery range?"

"I don't see why not," Bruce said as he turns back over to look at Kagome.

"Are you going to get up?"

"Not yet, I'm going to try to sleep until noon."

"Alright, then I'll see you later." Kagome kissed Bruce then slapped his butt, causing him to grunt.

She giggled as she got and got ready for the day. Grabbing her bow and arrows, she leaves the suite and asks FRIDAY where the archery range was.

** **Two floors down last door on the left.**** the AI informed her.

"Thank you, FRIDAY."

 ****You're welcome Ms. Higurashi.****

Kagome walks into the empty archery range. She looks around at all the different targets, trying to decide where to begin. Kagome decided that since it had been a while since she had actually used her bow that she should start off with something simple. She'd start off with stationary targets.

Kagome strapped her quiver to her back, she stood 100 ft from the target and aimed. She took a deep breath and loosed the arrow, the arrow went soaring through the air and hit the target dead center. She moved down to the next target and did the same thing.

"Hey you're pretty good," A voice suddenly said.

Kagome looked around confused, where was the voice coming from? Just then Clint repelled down from the ceiling vent and landed in front of Kagome. She jumped back startled at see the man suddenly land. She looked up then looked at Clint.

"Do you always go around spying on people in the vents?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Oh okay, so what are you doing here?"

"I was coming to do some shooting when FRIDAY told me you were here so I decided to watch to see how good you are."

"And you decided to hide in the vents instead of coming in here?" Kagome asked raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't want to make you nervous."

"I don't get nervous."

"Oh, well, since you don't get nervous, how about a little competition?" Clint asked.

"Sure why not?"

"Where's Bruce, by the way?"

"He's still sleeping, we normally sleep until noon on Sunday, but after that explosion, I couldn't go back to sleep," Kagome explains.

"Yeah, that happens more often than you would think."

"Great," Kagome said with a sigh.

"So shall we?" Clint asked.

"So, where's your bow?"

"Right here," Clint reach behind his back and pulled out his compound bow. Giving it a quick shake it extended to full size.

"Wow, that's pretty neat."

"Yeah more convenient. Well, lady's first."

Kagome stepped forward and took a shot, hitting the target dead center. She continued moving on always hitting dead center. When she finished, she looked at Clint.

Clint didn't take his eyes off of Kagome, he just walked down the line shooting at each target also hitting each target dead center. Kagome clapped when Clint finished causing him to smirk.

"That was really good. What else can you do?"

Clint went over to the wall and pressed a button starting the moving targets, he took aim and shot at every target hitting each one as a usual dead center. Kagome leaned against the wall watching, she impressed by his skill. When he was finished he turned to her.

"You know if you want I can teach you how to use a modern bow instead of that antiquated one."

Kagome's eyebrow started to tick, "First of all, thank you but no thank you, secondly I like my bow, and third, there's nothing you can teach me."

"Sure I can, like how to shoot without looking, I'm sure your Kyūdō instructors never taught you that."

Kagome smiled at Clint, reached into her quiver and pulled out a blindfold. she blindfolded herself and picked up her bow. She suddenly started a barrage of rapid-fire shots at every single target that Clint had hit, stationary and moving. She not only hit the target but split his carbon arrows with her wooden ones in two. When she finished, she took the blindfold off, picked up her bow, and walked past Clint who's mouth was hanging open.

"As I said, thanks but no thanks, oh and I was self-taught. Now if you'll excuse me I need to make lunch for Bruce. Nice shooting with you, Clint."

And with that, Kagome left back to her suite. Clint brought down one of the targets to examine the arrow that had split his and noticed that Kagome shot it with such force it went all the way through.

"Holy shit." Was all he said.


	24. At the Movies

**I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR THE AVENGER, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I AM ONLY BORROWING THEM**

Kagome went back to the suite and made lunch for Bruce, who was barely getting up. He enjoyed his lazy Sundays very much, though he would have enjoyed it more if Kagome had been with him. Putting on his robe he went into the kitchen to see that Kagome had made hamburgers for lunch. She smiled at him and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, he sat down and she placed the burger with chips in front of him then took her own plate and sat down next to him.

"So," He asked after he swallowed.

"So?"

"How did it go at the archery range?"

"Oh that, it went really well. Your friend Clint scared the life out of me by jumping out of the vents and then we had a friendly shooting match," She said casually.

Bruce took another bite then swallowed, he looked at her critically.

"You beat him, didn't you?"

"I destroyed him," She said then took a bite.

"Do you think that's fair?"

"Why not?"

"Because, my beautiful Miko, love of my life, you used The Sacred longbow of Mount Azusa. You can't miss with that bow."

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that."

"Kagome!"

Kagome giggled, "I'm joking, Bruce, that bow I have shrunk down on my charm bracelet, the one I used was my regular longbow. I beat him fair and square," She said then took a drink of her iced tea.

The couple decided that they would watch a couple of movies then go to bed early. Bruce puts on Wonder Woman and settles on the sofa with Kagome, right before the movie starts there's a knock on the door.

"Come in," Bruce calls out.

"Heya Brucie, Kaggy, whatcha doin'," Tony asks when he enters the room.

Kagome's eyebrow lifts, "Kaggy?"

"Uh huh, Kaggy,"

"Uh, we're going to a movie, Bruce tells Tony.

"Oh yeah, what movie?"

"Wonder Woman," Kagome tells him.

"Ooh, with that really hot chick, what's her name, Gal Gadot. I'm totally in, but let's go watch it in the theatre I built instead, guys. Come on, it'll look and sound better."

Bruce and Kagome look at each other Kagome shrugs, "Yeah, why not?"

"Great, I'll assemble the rest of the Avengers," Tony says as he races out of their suite yelling for FRIDAY to inform the Avengers.

Bruce gets off of the sofa, he offers his hand to Kagome, and they leave the suite hand in hand. They walk down the theatre room where everyone has already gathered.

"Great idea guys, I love this movie," Rhodey tell them when they walk in

"Hey is anyone going to make some popcorn?" Sam asks

"I will make the popcorn," Vision volunteers.

"No, last time you nearly caused a fire, let someone else do it," Clint tells him.  
Kagome looks around at the overgrown children arguing over popcorn and drinks and sighs, "I'll do it, what do you guys want to drink?"

Suddenly they're all shouting at her telling her what they want and thanking her. Then they start talking about what a badass Gal Gadot is.

Bruce looks at Kagome, "Do you want some help, Honey?"

"No, sweetie, you can stay here and play with the boys," She tells him with a wink.

Kagome walks out and heads to the kitchen to make the popcorn. She looks around in the cabinets until she finds the box of microwave popcorn. She puts the package in the microwave and starts it, while it's popping she starts grabbing the beers and sodas that the guys want. Then looks for a few large bowls to put the popcorn in. As she's looking for what she needs she spots Bucky walking by, she smiles and calls out to him.

"Hi, Bucky."

Bucky turns around, "Oh hello, Ms. Higurashi."

"Please, call me Kagome," She tells him with a smile.

Bucky can't help himself and smiles back.

"I don't suppose you can help me real quick?"

Bucky hesitates, "What do you need help with?"

"Well, we're going to watch a movie, and the guys want popcorn so I volunteered to make it. But I can't find any big bowls to put it in, do you have any?"

"Um, yeah they're right here," Bucky tells her and get them down from a cabinet that was too tall for her.

He hands them to her, she gives him a brilliant smile and thanks him. He smiles back then awkwardly stands there, not knowing what else to say. Kagome continues to busy herself making more popcorn and emptying it into the bowls. She looked around for more snack and found bags of candy as well. The whole time she was watching Bucky out of the corner of her eye.

"So are you going to watch the movie with us?"

Bucky scratches the back of his head, "Um no I don't really like movies."

"That's too bad, I heard this is a really good one."

"Maybe."

"Well, how about you watch a little of it and if you like it stay and if you don't you can leave."

Bucky thought for a moment then shrugged, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Great, I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me take this stuff into the theatre?"

"Sure."

Bucky grabs a tray and loads it with all the drinks and some of the bowls of popcorn while Kagome carries another bowl and the bags of candy. They make their way into the theatre where the guys are all waiting for the food. Steve looks over and sees Bucky with Kagome, his face lights up.

"He, Buddy, are you going to stay for the movie?"

"Yeah, I'll give it a try."

Kagome hands everything out then goes to sit with Bruce. Bucky stands there for a minute then takes a seat next to Kagome. Tony tells FRIDAY to start the movie and the theatre goes dark. Kagome and Bruce hold hands while the movie plays, everything is going fine until the Germans show up and they start fighting. Kagome can see out of the corner of her eye that Bucky is getting anxious, he keeps clenching and unclenching his hands and he's starting to sweat. She offers him some popcorn, and when he reaches in to grab some, Kagome does as well touching his hand with her finger. She pushes some healing power into him and he calms down. Bucky settles back in the chair takes a deep breath and lets it slowly suddenly feeling a peace.

This did not go unnoticed by Bruce, he smiled and squeezes Kagome's hand then leans over and kisses her head. She turns and kisses his cheek. They continue to watch the movie, though every now and then Kagome looks at Bucky to make sure he's alright. When the movie ended, Tony stood up and clapped his hands getting everyone's attention.

"Alright, since we just finished watching Wonder Woman, I think it's only fitting that we now watch the Batman movies, but the only ones worth watching are Batman with Michael Keaton and the Christopher Nolan ones. So everyone go pee grab a snack or whatever and come back, Frosty you're gonna watch these right?" Tony asked looking at Bucky.

Bucky looked at Kagome and Bruce, she gave him an encouraging smile, then he looked at Tony.

"Yeah, I'll stay."

"Good, it's about time we get started on your education."


	25. Helping a Wounded Soldier

**WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SCENE!**

Monday morning, Kagome gets up early, she decides that she'd like to go for a run before she heads down to her office. She leaves a note for Bruce telling him where she went. She goes to the bathroom, gets dressed and heads out to the track that she had seen on Saturday. Kagome starts stretching and warming up when she notices a lone figure running the track. She shades her eyes with her hand waiting to see who it is when the person gets closer, she can see that it's Bucky. Kagome continues to stretch and waits for him to come back around, when he passes her she starts running and catches up to him.

"Good morning."

Bucky looks at her and nods.

"How did you sleep," Kagome asks.

"Good...you?"

"Very well, thank you."

They continue to run laps on the track, Bucky every now and then looking at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. Kagome keeping perfect pace with Bucky, she doesn't seem to be overexerting herself at all. The silence goes on for a while longer until Kagome finally speaks.

"So, I couldn't help overhearing yesterday that you're thinking about stopping your therapy sessions."

Bucky doesn't answer, he just picks up the pace a little more, but Kagome stays with him.

"Yeah." He finally says after a long while.

"Isn't that part of your probation?"

"Yeah."

"What happens if you stop going?"

"They'll send me to prison."

Kagome doesn't say anything, she just keeps running. Suddenly Bucky stops, grabs Kagome by the arm to stop her.

"Did you really mean it when you and Bruce said you would help me?"

"Yes, we meant it, Bucky."

"Can you cure me?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I can't tell you now."

Bucky's eyes harden and he squeezes her arm a little tighter.

"It's a long story, but if you come over for dinner with Bruce and me tonight, I'll explain everything. I'll even show you how I'll do it."

Bucky's grip loosened, he stared at Kagome for a moment then nods. Kagome gives him a smile.

"Good, then I'll see you tonight," She tells him and pulls her arm out of his grasp.

While Kagome and Bucky had been talking, Natasha had been watching them through the window from the compound. She had her arms crossed and was leaning against the window pane watching every single move that Kagome and Bucky made. She was trying to figure out what Kagome's interest in Bucky was. As she watched Steve came up behind her.

"What are you looking at?"

She motioned with her head outside.

Steve looked outside and smiled, "Hey, looks like Bucky is making a new friend."

But his smile faded when he saw Bucky grab Kagome's arm and squeeze. He watched anxiously to see what Kagome would do. But when he saw that Kagome only smiled and said something to him then gently got him to release her arm he relaxed.

"I wonder what that was about?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe you should go find out."

Steve nods and makes his way down to the track. By the time he gets there, Bucky is cooling down from his run, and drinking water. Steve smiles when he reaches his best friend.

"Hey, punk, how was your run?"

"It was good,"

"Do you want to spar now?"

Bucky shrugs, "Yeah, why not?"

The start walking back towards the compound. Bucky wiping the sweat off his brow and drinking his water. Steve looks at him every now and then.

"So I saw that you were running with Kagome, who did that go?"

"It was fine, she's an okay dame. We really didn't talk a lot."

Steve pressed, "What did you talk about when you did talk?"

"Nothing important, she just asks me how I was, and how I slept."

Steve knew there was more but he wasn't going to push him. If Bucky wanted to tell him, he would. While Steve was thinking this, Bucky was trying to figure out what exactly Kagome could do for him that other people couldn't. He had been going to therapy for a while and still hadn't felt any better, but he had talked to Kagome three times and every time he did he felt a little better. Bucky didn't understand it, but he liked it. Whatever she wants to do to him he was willing to try it, it couldn't possibly be worse than what they did to him in Hydra.

"Are you listening, Bucky?"

"What, no sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said how about after we train we head into the City for a while, visit the old neighborhood?"

"Um, yeah I guess."

"Great!"

Meanwhile, Kagome had gotten back to her suite and was making her way to the shower. She relaxing under the hot water when she felt a pair of arms slink around her waist and something hard press against her backside. She smiled when Bruce started kissing her neck.

"Did you enjoy your run?"

"Mhmm, but I'm enjoying this more." She said as she tilted her head to the side giving Bruce more access to her neck.

Bruce licked her ear, "Not too tired after your run?" He asked as he grinds his erection into her backside.

Kagome turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, "I am never too tired for you."

They start kissing and making out, Bruce kisses his way down her neck until he gets to her breasts. He takes one of her pert nipples into his mouth and begins to suckle. He swirls her nipple with his tongue, biting down gently causing Kagome to gasp. Letting go with a pop, Bruce continues to kiss his way down her body until he's kneeling in front of her. Taking Kagome's leg he puts it over his shoulder and licks her folds. Kagome gasps as Bruce begins to lick her clit while he inserts a finger into her. Kagome cries out when Bruce starts pumping his finger and suckling on her clit. She grabs him by the hair and holds firmly in place as she comes all over his face. Bruce continues to suckle and lick her through her orgasm.

Kagome lets go of his hair, letting Bruce stand up. He turns her around and bends her over. Bruce takes himself in his hand and slowly enters Kagome, he groans when he is fully sheathed inside her. Slowly he starts thrusting into Kagome, with each thrust Kagome moans causing him to swell within her.

"Harder, Bruce." She cries out.

Bruce grabs Kagome's hips and thrusts into her as hard as he can, Kagome screams. He starts pulling her back onto his cock while he thrusts wildly into her.

"So good," Bruce moans, "I love you so much."

"Oh, Kami, Bruce, I love you too!"

Bruce continues to thrust until, his sack tightens and he comes inside Kagome, Holding on to Kagome's hips, Bruce gives one last deep thrust and empties himself inside her. Kagome shivers as she feels Bruce come inside her, she loves feeling his warm seed coat her womb. Bruce wraps his arms around Kagome and hugs her to him. She turns her head and kisses him lazily. He sighs and slowly pulls out, causing his cum to leak out of her.

"We need to hurry and wash, I still need to make breakfast before we go to work."

Bruce groans, "Couldn't we just go back to bed?"

"Nope, need to start the day."

"Oh, alright," Bruce says with a huff.

Amazingly the water was still hot, they wash up and get out, Kagome quickly gets dressed and goes to the kitchen to start breakfast. She starts cooking the eggs when Bruce comes into the kitchen and starts the coffee machine, he puts the toast in the toaster and starts frying the bacon. Once they're finished Bruce plates everything while Kagome gets two coffees cups for them. They take everything to the kitchen table and sit down to have breakfast.

While they're eating, Kagome tells Bruce what happened during her run. She told him that she invited Bucky to dinner so that they could talk about how she could help him.

"So, then you're going to tell him you're a priestess?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to have to show him too, otherwise he's not going to believe me."

Bruce thinks for a minute, "Okay if he accepts your help after we tell him everything, he still needs to continue to go to therapy. Even if it isn't working."

"Why?"

"Because it's part of his probation if he stops he'll go to prison. They'll never let you treat him for PTSD you're not a doctor. So he needs to make the pretenses of seeing his court-ordered doctor."

"I see, so they'll think he's getting help that way when in reality I'll be the one helping him."

"Exactly."

"I knew you weren't just another pretty face, Dr. Banner," Kagome says with a wink.

"Why thank you, Ms. Higurashi."

They clean up and head for the door, give each other a goodbye kiss, then they each head off in different directions, Bruce to the lab and Kagome to her new private office.


	26. Dinner With Bucky

As soon as Kagome sat down at her desk her phone started ringing. She quickly picked up the phone.

"Taisho Industries, this is Kagome Higurashi."

"Imouto, it is undignified that you answer your own telephone, shall I have a secretary assigned to you."

"Nii-san! No, it isn't there's usually someone doing it for me at the office in New York, but I'm up earlier. What can I do for you?"

"My spies have swept your office and have found no listening devices. They will be doing that on a regular basis, as it seems you have caught the attention of a certain master spy."

"Oh, that, yes it would appear that Miss Romanoff is not very fond of me, and I can only imagine why."

"Yes, apparently the Black Widow has feelings for Dr. Banner."

"Black Widow?"

"That is her codename, Imouto, from what I have gathered over the years she is a formidable opponent, you will need to be cautious around her.

"I'm not worried about her, Nii-San."

"You should be. It may come down to you showing her you're not as weak as she thinks you are and that you can defend what is yours."

"You think she'll try to take Bruce from me."

"Yes."

Kagome's eyebrow ticks. "That's not going to happen."

Sesshomaru smirks on his end of the line. "I know it won't. I must be going now, Imouto, get to work."

"Yes, of course, Lord Sesshomaru, right away."

Sesshomaru smirked then up the phone.

Kagome was busy all morning working on business deals for Taisho industries, but when she looked up she noticed that it was almost noon. She got up from her seat and made her way down to the lab where Bruce was working. As she was walking she ran into Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. Kagome gave them both bright smiles that Steve returned Natasha gave her a fake smile.

"Where you off to, Kagome," Steve asked.

"I'm going to get Bruce from the lab, it's lunchtime."

Natasha scoffed. "Let me tell you a little something about Bruce, Kagome, he doesn't like to be disturbed when he's working. By anyone."

Kagome put her finger to her lip, "Huh, maybe that's when you knew him, but for the last two years, Bruce and I have always gone to lunch. Or maybe it could have been the person that was interrupting him that was the problem," Kagome said with a smile.

Natasha scowled at her, Steve cleared his throat and put a hand on Natasha, "Enjoy your lunch, Kagome," Then he gently started steering Natasha away.

The doors to the lab opened causing Tony and Bruce to look up, Bruce smiled when he saw Kagome.

"Ready for lunch, Bruce," Kagome asked as she kissed him on the lips.

"Oh we don't- Tony was about to say.

"Yes, I am, Tony would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Are you serious, you're going to lunch," Tony asked.

"Yeah, Kagome and I go to lunch every day."

"Well, if that's the case, sure why not, let's go into the City, we can pick up Pepper."

They ended up going to Stark Industries, Pepper was so shocked to see Tony out of the lab that she instantly agreed to go to lunch with them. They went to a nice bistro nearby and had a nice lunch. After lunch, Kagome decided that since she was in the city she would work from the office and see Bruce later for dinner.

Bruce and Tony went back to the compound and went back to work, Tony every now and then looking at Bruce, until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Kagome really has you whipped, doesn't she"

"No, she just takes good care of me, like Pepper wants to with you if you would let her."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. So does that mean you're a nine to five man now?

"Eight to six."

"Oh, well, excuse me, eight to six."

"Yes, Tony, I am. I have something to look forward to at the end of the day and someone waiting for me now."

"So…what's this I heard that Kagome went running with Winter Wonderland this morning?"

"How did you know that?"

"FRIDAY told me and I have cameras everywhere."

"Well if you must know, Kagome thinks that she can help Bucky as she helped me."

"And how exactly did she help you, anyway?"

Bruce paused for a moment, he picked up the phone and called Kagome.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hon, Tony wants to know how exactly you helped me."

"Do you trust him?"

Bruce looked at Tony who was giving him a quizzical look, "Yes, I do."

"Then go ahead and tell him, but he has to promise not to say anything."

"He won't tell anyone, I know he won't. Thanks, Baby see you tonight. Love you."

"I love you too."

Bruce hung up the phone and put it away. He turns around and crosses his arms and looks at Tony.

"Alright, what am I not telling anyone?" Tony asks.

"What I'm about to tell you is in the strictest of confidence, Tony, you have to swear on your Iron Man suits you won't tell a soul."

"I swear," Tony rubs his hands together, "Now spill."

"Okay, Kagome is a priestess and has certain powers…"

By the time Bruce was finished telling Tony all about Kagome, he, of course, left out the part that Sesshomaru and Shippou were Youkai, Tony was in complete awe.

"And this is all true, no bullshit?"

"No bullshit."

"We have got to make her an Avenger."

"No."

"How about a reserve Avenger like Peter?"

"Well, maybe, we'll have to ask her," Bruce said.

"So then she thinks that will her powers she can cure Barnes of his PTSD and get rid of the programming that was done to him?"

"She's convinced she can," Bruce said as he turns around and goes back to work.

Tony does the same thing, then suddenly he stops, and looks up, "Do you think she can take Natasha in a fight, I mean if she was trained by a demon exterminator, which I can't believe existed by the way, and a what did you call him, a Supreme demon? I'm sure she could hold her own against Black Widow, right?"

"I don't know, probably," Bruce said without looking up.

Tony smirked, "Now that's something I would pay to see."

As the day grew later, Kagome finished up with her work and had a car drive her to the grocery store so she can get what she needs for dinner then back to Avenger's Compound. When she arrives, she is greeted by FRIDAY.

** **Good evening, Miss Higurashi.****

"Good evening FRIDAY how are you?"

** **I'm fine ma'am, thank you for asking. Will you be needing any help with your groceries?****

"No, I'm fine, could you inform Dr. Banner, that I'm back, please?"

** **Right away, ma'am.****

Kagome makes her way to their suite when Bruce comes around the corner. He sees her with all the grocery bags and rushes over to help her.

"I got this, Kagome, is this all for dinner tonight with Bucky?"

"Yes, I decided to make some steak and potatoes, something that's he's familiar with to make him comfortable, and a chocolate cake."

"Great, if you want I'll grill the steaks while you make the cake."

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea."

They went to their suite, changed and washed up, then got started on the evening meal. While they were doing that Bucky was in his room getting ready there was a knock on his door. Bucky sighed, he knew exactly who it was. He goes to the door and answers.

"Hey, Steve."

"Hey Buck, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Brooklyn and get something to eat.

"Sorry, Punk, I already have plans."

"You do, that's great! With anyone I know?"

"Kagome and Bruce invited me to have dinner with them."

Steve thought that was a little odd but wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh, Okay, well have fun, Bucky, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later."

Bucky closed the door and went back to getting ready, at 7:00 he went to Kagome and Bruce's suite. Knocking on the door Bucky stood waiting nervously for them to answer the door. A few moments later Kagome answered the door.

She smiled when she saw Bucky, "Bucky it's good to see you."

He gave her a small smile in return, "Thank you, Kagome, it's good to see you too."

"Come on in, dinner's almost ready, Bruce is just finishing up with the steaks."

"Oh okay."

"In the meantime, would you like a drink?"

"A beer if you got it."

"Sure, come on into the living room."

Kagome showed Bucky into the living room and had him sit down on the sofa, she went to the mini-fridge at the bar and got him a bottle of beer. She then poured it into a glass for him then handed it to him.

"So how was your day, Bucky?"

"It was okay, Steve and I went into the City, he's trying to help me with my PTSD. He's basically trying to distract me from it."

"And is it working?"

"Honestly, no it isn't."

"Hmm, well hopefully by the end of the night you'll see that my methods of treating PTSD are a lot more effective."

Bucky was about to ask how she does it when Bruce comes into the room.

"Bucky, glad to see you could make it," Bruce says and shakes his hand, "The steaks are ready, do you guys want to eat now or wait a bit?"

"Why don't we eat now then afterward we can discuss the treatment I have in mind," Kagome suggests.

They get up and head into the dining room where the dining room is already set for three people, "Bucky why don't you have a seat while Bruce and I get everything from the kitchen."

They start off with a salad then have steak mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans and dinner rolls. FRIDAY suggests a nice Merlot to compliment the steak. After dinner, Kagome brings out the chocolate cake and coffee for dessert.

As they enjoy their cake and coffee Kagome decides that now would be a good time to start her and Bruce's story.

"Bucky, I want to tell you the story of how Bruce and I met."

"Okay."

Bruce's jet crash landed in a little piece of forest that we have at our shrine in Tokyo. The thing was, I didn't meet Bruce first I met Hulk and he attacked me.

Bucky's eyes widen, "What did you do?"

"I put up a spiritual barrier that when Hulk touched it launched him back and he crashed into some trees."

"A barrier, what do you mean, what are you a mutant," Bucky asked.

"No, I'm a priestess, in order for you to understand I need to explain from the beginning. When I was 15-years-old my little brother's cat went down into the Well house and I had to go get him out…"

A few hours later Kagome completed her story of the past and how she helped Hulk and Bruce come to terms with each other with Bruce every now and then adding input about how it felt on his end. Bucky sat there stunned, he didn't know what to say. Bruce and Kagome looked at each other worried that maybe they had overwhelmed him.

Finally, Bucky spoke, "And you think with meditation and your spiritual powers you can cure me of my PTSD and get rid of the brainwashing program?"

"Yes."

Bucky sat back in the chair and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is a lot to take in, I mean you're a time-traveling priestess that can heal people with magical powers, for Pete's sake."

"If it's any consolation, I've been healing you little by little since we got here," Kagome tells him.

"You have, when."

"That day you and I first talked when Hulk was playing, I pushed a little bit of spiritual power into you so you could sleep at night. Then again when you started getting anxious during the movie. Then this morning after our run. I push just enough to make you calm and for you not to notice, I'm sorry I just want you to feel better."

Bucky sat there stunned, he couldn't believe that she had done that without him realizing it. He should have been angry that she did that, but he wasn't. Bucky stared at Kagome for a long while and realized that it was in Kagome's nature to want to help people, she couldn't sit by and watch people suffer if she could help them. She was kind of like Steve in that way but not as pushy. Kagome was going to let him decide if he wanted her help or not.

Bucky rubbed his face, "Okay, I understand why you did it, and thank you. I have felt better since you've helped me those times. I guess what I'm saying is will you continue to help me and heal me from this PTSD, both of you?"

Kagome and Bruce looked at each other, "We'd be happy to, but, there is something you have to do," Bruce said.

"What's that?"

"You have to continue to go to your therapy appointments. They'll never let Kagome treat you as part of your probation so you have to keep up appearances." Bruce explains.

"Bucky nods, "I can do that."

"Good, We can get started tomorrow after work. We'll start off with meditation then you can talk with Bruce afterward." Kagome explains.

"Sounds good to me."

"Great, how about a movie, we can watch Man of Steel or a Disney movie."

"I think a Disney movie would be better, nothing too violent right now," Bucky suggests.

"Okay, Disney it is, Bruce why don't you pick something."

"Okay, Baby."

They spent the rest of the evening watching movies and eating popcorn.


	27. First Session

Before Bucky left for the evening he and Kagome discussed with him that they would begin his therapy on Saturday. This would give them time to begin a full session as opposed to doing only nightly sessions when she and Bruce returned from work.

"I understand, Kagome, and thank you," Bucky said.

"There's no need to thank me, Bucky, this is something that Bruce and I want to do for you. In the meantime, I'll see you in the morning for our runs if you like."

"Okay."

And so the rest of the week went by like normal, Kagome would go running in the morning with Bucky while Bruce slept in, she and Bucky would talk a little bit while they ran. She would always ask him how he slept. If his nightmares had returned Kagome would take his hand and push a little bit of spiritual power into him to ease his mind and let him sleep. Once their sessions were over, Kagome would head back to her suite where she would be joined in the shower by Bruce and usually, they would make love. It was the perfect way to start the day.

What Kagome didn't know was that every morning when she would go running with Bucky, Natasha would be on the observation deck watching them. She didn't like the fact that Kagome would every now and then hold Bucky's hand as if she was flirting with him. She thought about telling Bruce, but changed her mind and filed that bit of information away for later.

Kagome would then head to work in her office and Bruce would work in his lab. Kagome had gotten into the habit of making lunch for her, Bruce and Tony. She couldn't very well let the man starve while she and Bruce ate. Pepper was most appreciative towards Kagome for feeding Tony every day. It was something that Tony was beginning to enjoy, he liked the domestic life that Bruce and Kagome had created for themselves. So then after lunch, Bruce and Tony would head back down to the lab and work until six in the evening. At which time Kagome would head down and collect Bruce from the lab and they would head back to their suite where he would make dinner and they would watch a movie or make love all night.

Finally, Saturday came and it was time to begin the healing session with Bucky. Bruce had told Tony what he Kagome and Bucky had planned and Tony recommended that they head out to the flower garden, there was a gazebo in the middle of the garden and hardly anyone ever went out there. As Bruce started walking out of the lab, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Hey, Tony, are you still having problems with PTSD?"

"What me, PTSD don't be rid-"

"Tony, you can tell me, I'm your best friend and I would never judge you. Is that why you're still working so late, you can't sleep either?"

"Yeah, but it's not nearly as bad as Freezer Burn's. He's the one that needs the help."

"So do you, Tony. Listen why don't you go change into some shorts grab one of Pepper's yoga mats and a towel and head on out with us."

Tony hesitated for a moment, "You don't think Kags would mind?"

"No, she won't mind at all. As a matter of fact, she's going to kick herself for not sensing it in you in the first place. You're just better at hiding your feeling than most."

"Years of practice, Buddy. You know what, the hell with it, I'll give it a try. It can't hurt, right?"

"No, it can't."

Tony runs upstairs and changes into sweats and a Black Sabbath T-shirt, he grabs Pepper's yoga mat and a towel then makes his way to Kagome and Bruce's suite.

In the meantime, Kagome makes bento boxes for her, Bruce and Bucky, when Bruce comes into the kitchen.

"Kagome could you make one for Tony please?"

"He's coming too?"

"Yeah I hope you don't mind I invited him, I just dawned on me that he probably never got over his PTSD either, after New York and what Wanda did to him."

"What did Wanda do to him?"

Bruce explains what the vision that Wanda had put in Tony's head when the whole thing with Ultron happened. Kagome listened quietly and shook her head.

"Why didn't I sense it when I first met him?"

"Tony has made a career out of hiding the real him, what you met was one of the many faces of Tony Stark, plus I think Bucky's PTSD is worse and it overwhelmed you."

"You're probably right, but that's still no excuse, of course, I'll help him, Bruce."

Bruce leans down and kisses Kagome, "Thank you."

Kagome makes another bento box, she packs she then packs some water into a cooler and then grabs hers and Bruce's yoga mats and towels and puts them in her bag. Bruce volunteers to carry the lunch and her bag. They then head out to the gazebo in the middle of the garden.

They arrive first and set up, while they wait for the other two, Bruce and Kagome hold hands and meditate. It's been a while since they have done this and it feels good to connect on a spiritual level again. A few minutes later, Bucky shows up with his yoga mat and towel. Kagome stands up and greets him, then Bruce shakes his hand

Bucky, I'm glad you made it please come and sit down. I want you to set up your mat across from me so that you and I can have physical contact. Oh and just so you know Tony will be joining us, I hope you don't mind?"

"No, if you think he needs help too, who, am I to argue?"

"Thank you, Bucky that's very kind of you."

It was about that time that Tony comes into the Gazebo with his yoga mat, Kagome and Bruce greet Tony. Tony then turns to Bucky, he nods his head.

"Barnes."

"Stark."

"Alright, Tony, I'm going to need you to set your mat down next to Bucky, this is going to be very easy. We're going to start with meditation, now let's all sit down."

They all sit down on their mats.

"Now sit up nice and tall and close your eyes, I want you all to take nice slow deep breaths in and out. Clear your mind of all negative thoughts, with every exhale, let go of the bad and inhale the good. Center your mind.

After a few moments of breathing, Tony sighs, "This isn't working."

"Give it time, Tony, we're not finished yet. Now I want you to reach out and hold hands."

Tony's eyes snap open, "Are you serious?"

Kagome smiles, "Yes, Tony, trust me."

Tony rolls his eyes then reaches out for Bruce and Bucky's hands, then he closes his eyes again. Kagome takes hold of Bucky's hand then Bruce's hand, she takes a deep breath and lets her spiritual powers flow from her body out into her hand and out into the three men in front of her.

Bucky is starting to fidget, he's not used to someone holding his metal arm and he's afraid that Kagome is going to start to feel uncomfortable. He starts to pull his hand away, but Kagome holds on tighter, slowly he starts to feel a warmth working its way up his arm. At first, he starts to panic, but then he notices that the sensation isn't harmful, it actually makes him calm and feel at peace for the first time in he doesn't know how long. Bucky takes a deep breath and sighs, letting the sensation wash over him.

Tony too is starting to fidget, but when he suddenly feels Kagome's powers creeping slowly up his arm he nearly lets go of Bucky's hand he was so startled. His anxiety starts to increase as he feels the sensations crawling its way through his body until it hits his heart. When it touches his heart Tony gasps, he is suddenly inundated with a sense of acceptance, love, and peace he has never felt before. Love not in the way he feels for Pepper but the way a sister feels for a brother. It is so overwhelming for Tony that tears begin to stream down his face.

For Bruce, he and Hulk they feel Kagome's calming effect on them and her unconditional love for them. A love that he has never known from anyone in his entire life. It envelopes him like a warm blanket and caresses his soul, soothing any ache he may have been having.

Kagome keeps this up for about 10 minutes, slowly healing the wounds that Bucky and Tony have and sharing her love with Bruce, making sure he doesn't feel left out. Once the session is over she pulls back her spiritual powers and opens her eyes. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a handkerchief for Tony and hands it to him.

Tony sniffles and wipes his eyes, "Wow, I have never felt anything like that before in my life. That was amazing, I feel so cleansed almost whole. How about you Elsa?" Tony asks looking at Bucky.

"I feel really good."

"That's it just good? You should feel amazing! That was awesome!"

"Well, Tony, Bucky's road is a little longer than yours, it will take him a while to get to where you're at," Kagome explains.

"How do you feel, Big Green."

"Loved."

"Aw, how cute, so Kags when can we do this again?"

Well, from here on out, I'll work with you individually, and then you can talk with Bruce about how your experience compared with his. How does that sound?"

"Excellent!" Tony said in an excited tone.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bucky said.

"Now, that's all for today, but I thought we could enjoy the garden and have lunch out here so I made some bento boxes.

"Ooh, I love those," Tony said.

Great, here you go," Bruce said as he handed them out. Once they had settled down for lunch he sat down next to Kagome and took her hand, giving it a kiss.

"You did a wonderful job, Baby."

"Thank you, Sweetie.

"I love you, Kagome.

"I love you too, Bruce."

Bruce leans in and sweetly kisses Kagome.

Tony rolls his eyes, "Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff I don't want to barf up what I just ate."


	28. Battle of the Bitches

When they finished lunch, they all headed back to the compound, Kagome asks Tony and Bucky what they were going to do for the rest of the afternoon.

"Well, Pepper had an emergency meeting so I thought I'd go work in my lab for a while."

"And I thought I'd go spar with Steve," Bucky tells Kagome.

"Oh, well, care to spar with me instead," Kagome asks. Bucky hesitates,

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Bucky, I was trained by a demon slayer and a Demon Lord, I can handle whatever you throw at me."

"What about Bruce?"

"What about me," Bruce asked.

"Won't Hulk get upset if Kagome gets hurt and come out," Bucky asked.

"No, I can just tell him that she's training and that she's not in any danger, he should be okay."

"Then you're going to stay and watch," Kagome asked Bruce.

"Yeah, I was going to take a nap, but I'd rather watch this."

"You know what, me too. This sounds way more entertaining than working in the lab," Tony said.

"Great, then let's head down to the training room right now. "They make their way into the compound and down to the gym where Steve is working on the heavy bag and Clint and Natasha are sparring on the mats. Steve smiles when he sees Bucky come in with Kagome, Bruce, and surprisingly Tony as well.

"Hey, Buddy, where have you been all morning?"

"I was around," Bucky answered vaguely.

Steve slightly frowned at Bucky's answer, "Hey, so do you want to work out or something?"

"Actually, I was going to spar with Kagome."

Steve's eyes quickly flash to Bruce, "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Bucky said.

"Well, what about..."

"If you think I'll go Code Green, Steve, you don't have to worry, I already explained to Hulk that Kagome is just training, she's not in any danger. Hulk is nice and calm, he's actually looking forward to seeing Kagome spar," Bruce said.

"He is," Steve asked.

"Boy, you really got a handle on this, don't you, Big Guy?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, Clint, Hulk and I get along just fine."

"Yeah, yeah, Big Green and Science Bro are muy simpatico now, but that's not why I came down here. I came down here to watch Ice Queen and Kaggy spar, so get on with it." Tony said.

"Okay, let's get started then," Kagome says happily.

She and Bucky take Clint and Natasha's place on the mats. They both get into defensive positions and start circling each other. Kagome waits for Bucky to make the first move. He throws a punch and she dodges it, she does the same and he catches her arm and forces her down onto the mat. Kagome quickly gets to her feet and they start circling again.

As they throw punches and kicks, Clint and Natasha watch on. Natasha shakes her head, "Bucky is hesitating, he doesn't want to hurt her so he's pulling his punches and is going as slow as he possibly can."

Clint nods, "I noticed that too."

They continue to watch until Natasha can't take it anymore, "Stop, stop, this is ridiculous. Bucky, you're pulling your punches and fighting like an amateur. How is she going to learn anything like that?"

Kagome stares at Natasha, "I don't need anyone to teach me how to fight, I can take care of myself very well. I just need for Bucky to get serious."

Natasha smirked, "Of course you do, anyone can see you don't know the first thing about self-defense. And if Bucky is too scared to train you, then I will."

"I told you, I don't need to be trained."

"We'll see about that, Bucky, I'm going to take your place."Bucky looked at Kagome then at Natasha, "I don't think-"

"It's alright, Bucky, if Natasha wants to fight me then I'm alright with that."

Bucky sighs, "Okay if you insist."

Bucky gets off the mat and Natasha takes her place. She stands in front of Kagome and smirks.

"I'll take it easy on you."

"Don't bother."

The guys gather around Natasha and Kagome as they begin to circle each other, Tony leans into Bruce and whispers in his ear, "Oh this is going to be so good, Kagome is going to wipe the floor with Nat, we should have taken bets."

"That would have been unfair to the others," Bruce said. "Besides you're the playboy, billionaire, what do you need more money for?"

"Not the money, the satisfaction of winning," Tony smirked. "I love beating Peter Pan boots at anything."

"What are you whispering about Tony?" Steve asked the billionaire.

"Oh, nothing Cap," Tony said trying to look innocent.

Steve looked at Tony a minute longer then back to Natasha and Kagome. Both girls took a fighting stance and got ready for Steve to give them the okay. If things got out of hand he'd step in and stop the fight. After all, Steve believed Natasha would be a lot stronger, and she wouldn't hold back. Even if Kagome had begged her to.

"Alright," Steve said. "Begin."

Natasha spun her foot at Kagome who dodged easily. Despite her attack not making contact Natasha keep at it with her other foot. Kagome was being pushed back trying to dodge each move. Switching it up a little Natasha instead threw a punch aimed at Kagome's gut. The girl lowered her hands and caught the attack and returned with her own attack using two fingers to pock into Natasha's side hard. Confused, but unaffected, Natasha used her free arm to bring her elbow down on Kagome's head. Before she could hit her target Kagome had rolled out of the way.

"Stop running and fight," Natasha shouted, "We're fighting, not dancing?"

"Are we?" Kagome said playing on Natasha's nerves. "I thought we were dancing cause those moves you call fighting seem rather, slow?"

Enraged Natasha rushed the girl she dislikes so much. She would make her scream for mercy. This wasn't training anymore. No, now she just wanted Kagome to bleed. With ease, Kagome once again dodged and jabbed her fingers in Natasha's back and neck. Under her clothing, Natasha could feel bruises forming, and that was annoying. She shouldn't be having this much trouble. Not against this stupid girl with zero skill or training. Turning back with a kick Natasha nearly hit Kagome who shot down just in time to dodge the attack.

"Ole!" Kagome yelled like a bullfighter as she jumped up using her palm to hit Natasha in the face.

All the viewers began laughing but stopped as Natasha glared at them. She jumped up and decided enough was enough. No more games, no more being nice.

"I think Kagome touched a nerve," Steve said to Tony who now stood beside him.

"Actually it was Natasha's chin, but nice try Cap. You'll pass that biology test next time." Tony commented.

"Shut up and watch." Bucky sighed.

Tony looked to Bruce and made a funny face trying to mock the two 'serious' men. Bruce hid a smile and shook his head. Then he turned back to the fight at hand. Natasha had gone for an overhead kick, but Kagome was also done playing. She caught Natasha's leg and pulled on it making her attacker fall on her back hitting her head as she fell. Kagome then punched her foe in the face repeatedly until Steve called the fight. Natasha was still confused about what happened.

"Okay then," Steve said a little surprised. "You win Kagome, you can stop now."

Kagome got up and looked at her former opponent whose face had a big bruise and had blood spilling from her nose. Could have been worse for her though. The truth was Kagome had gone easy on her.

"Next time try and block more, those little hits accumulate over time," Kagome said, "Don't be so rash either. Also, try not to kick so much, you're leaving your self open."

With that Kagome turned to her audience who all applaud and congratulated her on her victory. Bruce smiled at her shaking his head mouthing, show-off. She simply shrugged and looked at the others.

"So," She asked. "Who's next?"

Everyone looked at each other nervously and stepped back. Steve picked Natasha up and went to leave.

"I better take care of her wounds." He said hurrying off.

"I just remembered I have something in my lab to do," Tony said in a cool, but clearly nervous manner. "Very important gotta run."

One by one everyone made an excuse to leave. Now it was only Bruce and Kagome standing alone in the training room.

"You guys are no fun." Kagome pouted.

A/N: THE FIGHT SCENE WAS WRITTEN BY TheAngelinDarkness. Thank you once again for your help. 


	29. Suspicion Or Jealousy

**WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT!**

Steve helped Natasha to the infirmary and sat her down on the exam table. A little while later Helen Cho comes in. She's startled to see Natasha so banged up.

"My goodness, what happened to you?"

Natasha glared at the doctor, "I got my ass handed to me during a spar."

"By whom?"

"Bruce's little girlfriend, Kagome."

"You're joking did you let her win?"

"No, but I lost my cool and she took advantage of it."

"Wow, is it just your face or was there any other damage," Helen asked.

"She did keep jabbing me with her fingers, I maybe bruised from that."

"Hmm, it sounds like she was hitting your pressure points, but not hard enough to bring you down, just enough for the pain to eventually add up."

"You mean she could have paralyzed Natasha just by hitting her pressure points?" Steve asked.

"Yes, it's an ancient form of martial arts that are rarely taught these days. If you don't know what you're doing you could kill someone," Helen said as she took a swab and started cleaning Natasha's face of all the blood.

She examined her nose to see if it was broken and determined that it wasn't. After she cleaned off the blood she applied some ointment on Natasha's face and used some butterfly stitches on the cut that Natasha had on her right cheek. She then had Natasha change into a gown so she could examine the other bruises. Steve excused himself from the room.

"I'll wait outside."

Natasha nodded.

Once she had changed, Helen looked her over, "Yep, she was definitely going for your pressure points. But she was only hitting you hard enough to bruise. There really isn't anything we can do for the bruising, let me give you some medication for the pain."

"No, that's alright."

"At least take put some ice on your face, it will help with the swelling."

Helen went and got an ice pack and handed it to Natasha after she changed back into her clothes. Steve came in with a sweatshirt so Natasha didn't have to wear a bloody t-shirt.

"Here I brought you this."

"Thanks."

Steve turned around while Natasha changed shirts. When she finished changing she tapped Steve's shoulder.

"Okay, Steve I'm ready let's go."

With that, Natasha walked out of the infirmary with Steve following behind. They walked for a little while in silence until Steve broached the subject about the sparring.

"Well, that was an interesting sparring match."

"Yes, wasn't though?" Natasha said as she held the ice pack to her face.

"What are you thinking, Nat."

"Where did a girl like Kagome learn an ancient martial art technique like that, and why would she have to in the first place?"

"Maybe it runs in her family and is past down?"

"Could be."

"But you're not buying that are you, Nat?"

"No, I'm not. There has to be more to it than that. I get the distinct impression that Miss Higurashi isn't telling us the whole truth about herself."

"Do you think she told Bruce?"

"No, I don't. She's hiding a very big secret. And I'm going to find out what it is."

"Do you think she's a threat?"

"I don't know, possibly."

"Then we'll have to keep an eye on her," Steve said

What Natasha didn't tell Steve was that she thought that Kagome was a threat to Bruce. That she was just leading him on and that she was really after Bucky. For what reason, she wasn't sure. But it was obvious that she had an interest in Bucky.

Steve and Natasha went their seperate ways. Steve went looking for Bucky to warn him that maybe he should stay clear of Kagome and Natasha went to go lie down. Her face hurt and she just wanted to relax.

Steve found Bucky sitting in the living room reading a book. By the look on his face, he seemed to be nice and relaxed. Steve hadn't seen Bucky that relaxed in a long time. He walks into the room and takes a seat next to Bucky.

"Hey, Buddy, how are you?"

Bucky glances at Steve and continues to read his book,

"I'm fine, how's Natasha?"

"She's a little banged up but she'll be alright."

"Good to know," Bucky said and went back to reading his book.

Steve sat there trying to find a way to tell Bucky to stay away from Kagome. He stared at Bucky until Bucky became uncomfortable and put his book down.

"Is there something else, Steve?"

"Actually there is, how well do you know Kagome?"

"Well enough."

"Did you know she could fight like that?"

"I knew she had some training, I didn't know she was that good, why?"

"Do you know what her intentions are?"

"Intentions, what are you talking about?"

"I mean why is she here?"

"Because her boyfriend is here?"

"Maybe."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I want you to stay away from her until we know her true intentions."

Bucky closed his book angrily and stood up. He stared down at Steve.

"Oh, so what? You think Kagome is trying to be my friend so she can take advantage of me?"

"I didn't say that."

"That's what you're implying. Or do you think I'm not capable of choosing my own friends?"

"No, you are, I'm just saying that maybe she isn't what she seems to be."

Bucky scoffed, "Let me guess, Romanoff told you that."

Steve didn't say anything.

"Of course she did. Look, Punk, you may not trust Kagome but I do. She's been nothing but honest with me. So I'm telling you right now back off."

With that, Bucky left a bewildered Steve sitting in the living room.

Elsewhere in the compound, Bruce had just rolled off of Kagome after having wild passionate sex. Kagome was on such an adrenaline high after sparring that she pushes Bruce onto the bed, pulled his pants and underwear down to his ankles exposing his pulsating cock. She quickly undressed and impaled herself on him. Kagome grabbed Bruce's shirt and ripped it open. All the buttons went flying everywhere. Kagome planted her hands on his chest and started to ride him wildly. Bruce kicked off his shoes and wiggled his pants off. Once he did that he grabbed Kagome and flipped them. Lifting her legs onto his shoulder Bruce started pounding into her. Making her scream with every thrust. Bruce buried his face into her neck and started nipping and sucking, leaving his mark behind. With each passing moment, he could feel his orgasm getting closer and closer. But he held off wanting to make sure that Kagome reached her peak first. He suddenly felt her wall flutter and knew she was close. Bruce began to drive in faster and harder until Kagome tightened around him and screamed out her orgasm. Finally, Bruce began to chase his own release until he felt himself swell and he held himself in her spilling his seed inside her, his eyes briefly flashing green.

As Bruce slowly came down from his sexual high, he slowly pulled out and rolled over taking Kagome with him. They lay there wrapped in each other's arms trying to catch their breath until finally, Bruce starts to laugh.

"Maybe you should spar more often, it seems to put you in a feisty mood."

"Well, I had to get out that excess energy somehow, and I thought this was the best way."

"I'm glad you thought of it."

Bruce lets out a contented sigh and sits up, "Come on, let's take a shower and I'll make you dinner," He said giving his hand to Kagome and helping her up.

He sweeps her up into his arms and carries her into the bathroom.


	30. Sunday Dinner

The next day Kagome and Bruce went into town to buy what they needed for Sunday dinner. Kagome decided that she was going to make a lamb roast to show off her skills as a cook. But mostly it was to shut Natasha up about her only able to cook Japanese food.

They went to the butcher and bought a beautiful lamb shoulder with the bone in. She and Bruce went through the store gathering all the ingredients they would need for the lamb rub and for the sides. Kagome decided that along with the lamb she was going to serve Dijon mustard glazed carrots, Herby roasted Jersey Royals, Zesty spring greens and Roasted butternut squash with garlic and parsley.

"That's a lot of sides," Bruce commented.

Kagome smiled at him, "I want there to be a variety."

"And for dessert?"

"Berry pie."

"Just no strawberry, Pepper is allergic to strawberries."

"I was thinking maybe two blueberry pies."

"That sounds perfect, Honey, but that's going to be a lot of work, so I'm going to help you."

"You don't have to help me, Bruce, you know I enjoy cooking."

"I know you do, and I enjoy helping you. Besides, it'll be fun."

"Okay then, let's get back to the compound and get started."

They put everything in the car and drive back to the compound. Going to the kitchen, Kagome and Bruce put everything away. Kagome seasons the lamb and puts it in the refrigerator to let it marinate. Then she makes lunch for her and Bruce. After lunch, they go back to their suite and watch a little TV than take a nap.

At 3:00 Kagome and Bruce go back to the kitchen to get started on dinner. Kagome set the temperature on the oven and lets it heat up when it hot enough she put the lamb roast in the oven and sets the timer for three and a half hours.

While she's doing that, Bruce cuts up the potatoes, seasons them and puts them in the refrigerator. Kagome helps him with the carrots and the butternut squash. All the ingredients have to be doubled so that there's enough food for everyone. The sides will only take 40 minutes to cook so they put everything in the fridge to cook closer to when the roast is done. The last thing Kagome makes are the blueberry pies which she also puts in the fridge.

"So what should we do until 6:00," Kagome asked.

Bruce got this glint in his eyes, "Oh, I can think of a few things."

Kagome giggles as Bruce sweeps her up in his arms and carries her back to their suite.

They make love and sleep until 5:00 when they get up to take a shower and head back into the kitchen. Kagome preheats the oven, takes the lamb out of the fridge, then puts it in the oven. She sets the timer, then she and Bruce go to the living room to watch a movie.

An hour before the roast was ready, Kagome puts all the sides to cook and the pies to bake. At 6:30 Bucky comes into the kitchen. The smell of the roast can be smelled throughout the kitchen and living room.

"That smells so good, what are you making?"

"A lamb roast," Kagome tells him.

"Do you need any help?"

"Sure if you and Bruce want to set the table. The roast will be ready in 30 minutes."

Bucky helps take the dishes and silverware out to the dining room and they begin to set the table. When they finish they bring out the wine glasses. At this point, Tony comes into the kitchen.

"Hey FRIDAY told me that dinner is almost ready, man it smells incredible in here. What are we having?"

"Lamb roast, I'm glad you're here, Tony, what wine would go good with lamb?" Kagome asked.

Tony thought for a moment, "A nice Pinot noir or a merlot."

"I don't suppose you have either one of those?"

"But of course, I'll go get both bottles."

Tony went down to his personal wine cellar and brought up two bottles each.

When Tony comes back into the kitchen the timer goes off, "Okay, everything's ready just need to put the lamb on a platter and put the side dishes in serving bowls." Kagome tells the guys.

"We'll plate everything, Kagome, you go ahead and relax," Bruce tells her.

She smiles at her love and pecks him on the lips, "If that's the case I'm going to go change really quick."

Tony, Bruce, and Bucky plate everything and take out to the dining room. Tony then tells FRIDAY to inform the Avengers that dinner is ready.

* ***They'll be along shortly, Boss**.** FRIDAY tells Tony.

The Avengers are informed by FRIDAY that dinner is ready and make their way to the dining room. They were surprised to see how lovely the dining room was set up and how delicious the food looked.

"Wow, this looks incredible," Steve said.

"Yeah, everything looks so good," Sam commented.

Natasha just crossed her arms. She didn't want to admit that Kagome had done a good job.

At that moment Kagome comes back into the room, she smiles at everyone and tells them to take their seat. Bruce comes out of the kitchen with the roast lamb and set sit down at the head of the table where Tony sits. Tony stood up and clears his throat.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Kagome for this wonderful meal that she and Bruce prepared for us on our first Sunday dinner together. So, thank you Kagome."

Everyone else thanks Kagome as well and with that, Tony begins to carve the lamb and Pepper begins to hand him plates so that he can serve everyone slices of lamb. Pepper hands the plates down the line and everyone serves themselves the sides. Once everyone is served and have their glasses filled with wine, they begin to eat.

"Oh my god, Kagome this is incredible," Clint tells her.

"Thank you, Clint," Kagome says with a smile.

"Yeah, this is the best tasting lamb I've ever had," Rhodey tells her.

"And the sides are good too." Bruce comments.

Natasha sits there and eats in silence. She has to admit that the food was really good but she had no intention of saying anything. When the meal was over, Steve and Bucky volunteer to clear the table while Kagome and Bruce bring out the pies and coffee. After having their dessert they all go into the theatre to watch a movie. They decide that this time they were going to watch Disney movies, something that wouldn't affect Bucky.


	31. Mind Games

It had been a few weeks since Kagome and Bruce had come back at the compound. In that time period, she had made significant progress with Bucky and Tony. They were both beginning to get a handle on their PTSD and Kagome was able to get rid of the programming that Bucky had from Hydra. Tony stop having nightmares about everything that had happened starting with Afghanistan. They were both more relaxed and sleeping better.

Even Bucky's therapist notices the difference. He, of course, attributed it to the therapy sessions. He was doing so well, that his therapist reported to Ross that Bucky maybe ready for field work sooner than they thought.

Ross, wanting to hear from someone who has more day-to-day contact with Sergeant Barnes, call Tony to Washington. He couldn't rely on Steve for this because 1. Steve was still on probation and 2. Steve was too close to Sergeant Barnes to be objective. The same thing could be said about Tony being too close but Everett trusted Tony's opinion more.

So, on Monday morning in his Iron Man suit, Tony flew to Washington to discuss James Buchanan Barnes and his possible induction into the Avengers.

Tony arrived at Everett Ross's office and proceeds to step out of his Iron Man suit. He was smartly dressed in a dark blue 3 piece suit. Tony knocks on Everett Ross's door and lets himself in his Iron Man suit followed him in.

"Mr. Stark, glad you could make it."

"No problem, Mr. Ross, I understand you want to talk about Bucky Barnes."

"Yes, I do. I was informed by his therapist that in the past few weeks Mr. Barnes has made significant progress."

Tony knew perfectly well that it had nothing to do with the therapy sessions but with Kagome's healing. Though he had no intention of telling Ross that.

"And what exactly does that have to do with me?"

"I want to know what you have observed."

"Shouldn't you be asking Rogers?"

"He's too close to Barnes to be objective."

Tony scoffs, "And you think I can?"

"Over Rogers, yes. So, what have you observed?"

"FRIDAY."

 ****Sergeant Barnes has shown a decrease in night terrors. He is sleeping more soundly through the night. He is less withdrawn and engages in more conversations with the other Avengers. His dependence on Captain Rogers has decreased dramatically.****

"There you go, Everett, I'd say he's progressing nicely."

"Good, if you could continue to monitor him maybe in a couple of months he can sign the Accords and join the team."

"Will do."

With that, Tony got back in his suit and left. When he got back to the compound he went to his room and changed then went down to the lab to work with Bruce.

As the weeks went by everyone started noticing the change in Bucky more. He was slowly coming out of his shell. He smiled more, expressed his opinion more, as far as what he wanted to order for dinner or what movie to watch. He also began venturing out of the compound and talking more, although the last two he mostly did with Kagome and Bruce.

While Steve was happy that Bucky had made friends with Kagome and Bruce, a part of him was a little jealous that he no longer had Bucky's full attention. After all, Steve was Bucky's oldest friend.

For her part, Natasha was even more suspicious of the relationship between Kagome and Bucky. She would often find Bucky helping Kagome and Bruce preparing Sunday dinner or Kagome would be working out alone with Bucky. There were times when Kagome and Bucky would go into the City without Bruce because he was too busy in the lab. It was fine with Bruce he knew it was part of Bucky's treatment. To get him used to being among people again.

Natasha, on the other hand, thought Kagome and Bucky were having an affair and wanted nothing more than to get some sort of proof to show Bruce. She actually followed them once or twice. This did not go unnoticed by neither the Winter Soldier nor Kagome.

"We're being followed," Bucky tells Kagome as they walk down the street.

"I know, I can sense Natasha's aura."

"What do you suppose she wants?"

"Isn't it obvious, to know if you and I are lovers," Kagome tells Bucky.

Bucky looks at Kagome startled. That thought never crossed his mind, if anything he saw Kagome like a little sister and Bruce as her husband. Bucky did something he hadn't done in a long time, he laughed.

Kagome was startled by his outburst but had to admit that he had a nice laugh. He had such an infectious laugh that caused Kagome to start laughing as well.

Bucky wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned in, "Well, if she thinks that we're an item let's give her a show," He said with a wink.

Kagome agreed and let Bucky kiss the side of her head. Kagome wrapped her arm around his waist and they continued on their merry way to a café.

'I knew it,' Natasha thought.

She decided to keep her distance and continue to follow them so that she could gather more evidence.

Kagome and Bucky reach the cafe ordered their drink and purposely go sit by the window. They laughed and joked and held hands. At that moment, Kagome's phone rings. She looked at the caller ID and sees that it's Bruce. Her eyes light up with excitement.

"Hello, baby."

"Hi, love, just wanted to see what you were doing."

"Oh, I'm having coffee with my new boyfriend."

"You're new boyfriend, huh? Anyone, I know?"

"Yeah, I think you do and I'm sure you'll hear about it from a little spider."

"You and Bucky are being followed?"

"Yep."

"By Natasha?"

"Yep."

"You're joking?"

"Nope."

Bruce chuckles then takes off his glasses to rub his eyes. He suddenly gets a brilliant idea.

"Well, in that case, you have my permission to kiss him."

Tony's head shoots up and he gives Bruce a questioning look. Bruce holds up a finger indicating for Tony to wait.

"Really?" Kagome asks

"Just a peck on the lips."

"Will Hulk mind?"

There's a pause, "No, he thinks it'd be funny."

"Okay."

"But who do you really love?"

"You, of course, Dr. Banner."

"Why, thank you, Miss Higurashi."

"You're welcome."

Bruce laughs, "I'll see you when you get home, have fun at the movies."

"Okay."

With that, Bruce hung up. Tony is waiting impatiently for an explanation.

"So, who is our favorite Miko kissing?"

"Bucky."

"Why?"

"Apparently, they're being followed by Natasha and I thought it would be a nice touch."

"Why, you evil mad scientist, you. That's an idea worthy of me."

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it."

At the café, Kagome was giggling as she put her phone away.

"What," Bucky asked.

"Bruce has given me permission to give you a peck on the lips."

Bucky was taken aback, then he realized why, "Oh he's good."

"Yeah, I know."

"Okay, we won't do it now it'll look weird, but eventually I'll kiss you," Bucky tells Kagome.

"Okay."

They finish their coffee and head over to the theatre. The whole way to the theatre Kagome and Bucky are walking arm in arm. They're talking and laughing and every now and then Bucky will kiss Kagome's head.

"Is she still following us," Bucky asked.

"Yep, I can feel her aura, she's walking on the other side of the street."

Bucky shakes his head, he couldn't understand what Natasha's problem was with Kagome unless it was that she wanted Bruce for herself.

Kagome and Bucky finally get to the theatre, they buy their tickets to go inside and go to the concession stand. They buy some popcorn to share and drinks then head into the theatre with Natasha not that far behind them.

Inside the theatre, Kagome has her head on Bucky's shoulder and is feeding him popcorn. He smiles at her and does the same. Natasha is sitting in the back with a smirk on her face thinking that she caught Kagome red-handed. But she was going to wait and get more proof before she tells Bruce.

The lights dim and the movie starts. Bucky thinks this is the perfect opportunity so he turns to Kagome and gives her a kiss. Kagome kisses him back. It's a little bit longer than a peck, but not much. They both wanted it to look convincing.

Natasha smirks and snaps a photo with her night vision camera. She waits a little while longer then leaves the theatre. Bucky sees her leave out of the corner of his eye.

"Finally, she's gone, now we can watch this movie in peace."

He stretches his arms slumps down further in his seat and puts his feet up on the seat in front of him. He snatches the popcorn out of Kagome's hand.

"Hey, aren't you going to share with your girlfriend?"

"Sure, when I get one." He said with a smirk.


	32. Magic Marker

**WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT**

Natasha leaves the theatre with a smug look on her face. She knew that Kagome was no good for Bruce and that she was cheating on him with Bucky. That kiss was proof. But she wasn't going to go to Bruce with that information just yet. She wanted to throw it in Kagome's face that she caught her, she just needed to wait for the right moment to confront Kagome. Natasha went back to the compound with a spring in her step, feeling very superior.

Meanwhile, Kagome and Bucky finished watching the movie and went to get something to eat before heading back to the compound. They were sitting in the restaurant looking at their menus when Bucky glanced up at Kagome.

"So do you think that Natasha is going to go tell Bruce about our little tryst?"

"No, I think she's going to confront me so that she can gloat."

"Yeah, that sounds like her."

After they ate they headed back to the compound. Bucky went to his room to relax while Kagome went down to the lab to see Bruce. She walked into the lab and goes up to Bruce wrapping her arms around his waist and kisses his neck, "Hello Dr. Banner."

Bruce turns around in her arms and kisses her, "Hello Miss Higurashi did you have a nice time with your new boyfriend," Bruce asks with a smile.

"Oh, yes a wonderful time especially when he stole my popcorn and refused to share."

Tony laughs at hearing this and shakes his head.

Bruce pouts, "Oh, poor baby, see you never should have traded me in, I always share my popcorn with you."

"Yeah, I'm starting to regret it now," Kagome says with a laugh.

Bruce chuckles and hugs Kagome tightly, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, no more working on Saturday."

"You hear that, Tony, I've been banned from working on the weekend."

"That's right, I have to share Bruce with you all week. The weekends belong to me."

Tony huffs and crosses his arms like a petulant child, "Fine, take my Science Bro away." Kagome laughs at his antics.

"Now that that's settled, I'm stealing my boyfriend right now."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony says and waves them off.

Kagome takes Bruce by the hand and leads him out of the lab. They make their way through the Avenger's Compound to their suite. The minute they walk in Bruce has Kagome up against the wall kissing her neck. He lifts her up and she wraps her legs around his waist. Bruce captures her lips as he grinds his erection into her core, Kagome moans.

Bruce pulls away from her lips and attacks her neck again, "Are Bucky's kisses better than mine," Bruce asks between sucking and kissing her pulse point.

"Never, Baby, nobody kisses like you."

Bruce carried Kagome to their bedroom and takes off her clothes. Then he sheds his own clothing. He lies down between her legs and starts flicking her swollen clit with his tongue. Kagome moans as Bruce begins sucking on her clit.

He slowly trails his tongue through her wet folds and pierces her entrance with his tongue. Bruce begins to lick and suck on her folds while he inserts a thick finger into her and pumps her. Kagome starts arching her back as Bruce curls his finger then adds another one. Bruce goes back to sucking and flicking his tongue on her clit while he continues to pump her. Bruce pulls his fingers out only to replace it with his tongue, the whole time rubbing her clit with his thumb. Kagome cries out as she feels her walls tighten around Bruce's tongue. She comes hard into Bruce's mouth, he greedily laps up her juices.

Not waiting for her to come down from her high, Bruce flips Kagome over and enters her from behind. He sets a brutal pace causing Kagome to scream.

"Who makes you feel good, Baby," Bruce asks as he spanks her ass.

"You do, Baby."

Bruce starts thrusting harder he spanks her again, "Who do you belong to?"

Kagome moans but doesn't answer. Bruce grabs her black tresses and yanks her up holding her flush against his chest as he continues to thrust into her.

"Say it, Kagome, who do you belong to," Bruce asks as he swirls his fingers against her clit.

"I, I belong to you!"

Bruce can feel her walls start to flutter around his cock, he begins to thrust faster and harder until Kagome comes with a scream.

"Bruce!"

Kagome slumps against him as Bruce continues to chase his own completion. He comes with a shout as he holds himself inside Kagome spilling his seed inside of her. Taking Kagome with him he falls onto his side. They both lie there panting trying to catch their breath. Bruce hugs Kagome tightly to him and snuggles into her back tangling his legs with hers.

When Kagome's finally able to breathe, she laughs, "If that's what I'm going to get whenever you're jealous I should do it more often."

Bruce kisses her neck, "I wasn't jealous, I know you love me."

"If that's not jealousy I'd hate to think how you would get if you were."

Bruce laughs, "You wouldn't be able to walk for a week."

Kagome starts giggling. Bruce grabs the sheet and covers them, they soon drift off into a dreamless sleep. What they didn't know was that they had an audience outside their door.

Natasha had decided to tell Bruce what she had seen. She went down to the lab to talk to Bruce, but Tony told her that he had gone back up to his suite. He conveniently left out the part that Kagome was with him.

Natasha goes up to the suite and is about to knock when she hears Bruce and Kagome in the throw of passion. She can't help but stand there and listen. She abruptly walks away, she wipes her face and discovers that she has tears in her eyes.

A month later, Kagome is still working with Bucky and Tony with Bruce's help but not as often as she was. She had been feeling off for quite some time. She tried using her Spiritual Powers to cure whatever was bothering her but it didn't help. She started stressing out wondering what incurable disease could she have that even her Spiritual Powers couldn't cure.

She was sitting in her office talking to Sesshomaru giving him an update on how things were doing. He wanted to know when she would be finished with a project she was working on. Kagome looked at the calendar and at that moment she realized that she had missed her period.

"Sesshomaru can call you back, I need to go into town for something."

"What Imouto?"

"Um, a pregnancy test."

"You suspect that you are with child?"

"Yeah, I just realized today that I'm late and I'm never late."

Sesshomaru stayed quiet for a moment, "Go, I expect you to call me with the results as soon as you find out."

"Of course, Nii- san, but if it's positive I need to tell Bruce first."

"That is acceptable."

Kagome hangs up and rushes out of the compound to the closest pharmacy to pick up a pregnancy test. As she looks at the test she decides to take ten of them to be absolutely positive. After purchasing the test she rushes back home to her suite. But Kagome isn't paying attention to where she's walking and runs right into Bucky.

"Hey, where's the fire?"

"Can't talk now, I have to go do something."

"What?"

Kagome sighs, she need to tell someone and Bucky has turned out to be her best friend, "Okay, if I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone, especially Bruce."

"I swear, what's going on?"

Kagome opens the bag and shows him the pregnancy tests. Bucky's eyes widen as he stares into the bag, "Are you serious, you think you're…you know."

Kagome smiles, "I think I might be."

Bucky hugs Kagome, "Well let me know the results."

"Okay, I have to go now, I drank a bunch of water and I need to go."

Bucky laughs and lets her go.

Kagome gets to their suite and rushes to the bathroom, she tears open the box and pees on the stick. She does the same to the other nine. Setting them on the counter Kagome goes to her room and sits down on her bed to wait for the results. When the time is up she slowly goes into the bathroom. Kagome looks at the test, eight are a positive one is negative and one is inconclusive.

Kagome smiles brightly as she places her hands on her stomach, "I'm pregnant."


	33. And the Winner Is

While Kagome was getting the shock of her life, Bruce and Tony had left the Compound. Bruce had been thinking of doing something for a long time and he finally decided that today was going to be the day. He decided that he was going to ask Kagome to marry him. When he told Tony, the billionaire insisted on taking him ring shopping. He took Bruce to his favorite jeweler.

The jeweler immediately started fawning over Tony the minute they walked in, "Mr. Stark, what a pleasure it is to see you today."

"Hello, Gavin, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing very well, sir, very well indeed. What can I do for you today, Mr. Stark?"

"We're here to look at engagement rings."

"Congratulations Mr. Stark!"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Not for me, Gavin, Dr. Banner here is looking for an engagement ring."

"Oh, oh, sorry sir. Well, Dr. Banner congratulations on your upcoming engagement. Now, did you have anything in mind?"

Bruce fidgeted a little, "I was actually thinking of something simple something classic."

"Okay, sir, right this way."

Gavin took Bruce to see an assortment of engagement rings. There were so many that Bruce was starting to become overwhelmed. But with Tony's help, they narrowed down their choices. He ended up choosing a Split shank halo engagement ring. It was rather large but it had a classic look that appealed to Bruce and he knew that Kagome would love.

"That's a nice choice, Bruce, Kagome's going to love it."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Bruce smiled at Tony and let out a sigh of relief. Tony pats him on the back, "Come on, Brucie, I buy you lunch."

Meanwhile back at the Compound, Kagome was floating on cloud nine. She was so happy and excited that could wait to tell Bruce so she decided to go look for him, not knowing that he had left the Compound with Tony. She went down to the lab and found it empty. Looking at her watch she noticed that it was almost lunchtime so she thought that maybe Bruce had gone out with Tony. That was fine, though normally he would let her know. Not really thinking anything of it she shrugged and went back upstairs to search for Bucky.

'Maybe he'll want to have lunch with me.' Kagome thought.

She makes her way to his room and knocks on his door.

"Come in."

"Hey, Bucky."

"Hey, Kagome, what's up, Doll?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me."

"Just you?"

"Yeah, apparently Bruce went out with Tony, so I thought you and I could have lunch, that is if you don't have any other plans."

"Nope I'm free, Doll," Bucky says with a smile.

"Great, let's use the communal kitchen, I'll whip up some lunch for anyone that wants any. And you can help me."

"Sounds like a plan."

As they walked into the kitchen Kagome asked FRIDAY if they had all the ingredients she needed to make chicken enchiladas, and black beans.

** **Yes, Miss. Kagome, we have everything you need.****

"Good."

"So that's what we're having for lunch?"

"Yes, I read it online and it sounded interesting so now I want to try it."

"Okay, Doll."

So, between Bucky and Kagome, they got everything ready and put the enchiladas in the oven to bake. Kagome made three dishes of Enchiladas, knowing that Bucky and Steve could eat a lot. In the meantime, they sat around talking. While they were talking they heard something that sounded like a clap of thunder so loud that it rattled the windows then a bright light. When it was over Kagome felt an overwhelming presence, her eyes widened when she realized what it was. She reached out and grabbed Bucky's arm.

"What is it, Kagome?"

"I know what that is."

"What is it," Bucky asked getting defensive see how agitated Kagome was.

"A god."

At that moment a very tall very muscular blonde walks into the room dressed in full armor holding a hammer he stopped short and closed his eyes.

"I SENSE THE SPIRITUAL POWERS OF A PRIESTESS!" Thor bellowed.

Kagome and Bucky looked at each other then back at Thor who was looking around the room until his eyes fell on Kagome. The minute they did he rushed over and kneeled in front of her. Taking her hand in his he kissed it.

"Priestess, I must have you, please be mine."

At that moment Steve and Natasha walked in and saw Thor kneeled in front of Kagome asking her to be his. Natasha smirked, 'Oh, this was too good.' Natasha thought.

Steve stood there shocked, "What's going on here?"

Everyone ignored him, Kagome smiled sweetly at Thor and pulled him to his feet, "I'm flattered great god, but I have dedicated myself to Amaterasu-ōmikami."

Thor looked like a kicked puppy for a second then he smiled brightly, "I understand, Priestess, your goddess is lucky to have such a powerful priestess."

"Priestess, what are you talking about, Thor," Steve asked.

Right as Thor was about to explain the kitchen timer when off, "Oh, look at that, lunch is ready. Let's go into the kitchen and eat," Kagome said interrupting Thor.

The minute Kagome mentioned food Thor completely forgot what he was saying and followed everyone towards the kitchen but Bucky held him back.

"Hi, it's Thor right?"

"Yes, it is, I am Thor Odinson, and who might you be, stranger?"

"James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky. Look the reason I stopped you is to ask you not to mention anything about Kagome's powers."

"Why is that, she is the most powerful priestess I have ever had the pleasure of encountering."

"Because she's afraid that if people found out, they'll insist that she join the Avengers and she's had enough of fighting. She wants to lead a simple life."

Thor considered what Bucky was telling him, "I can understand that very well I shall make no mention of her powers."

"Thanks, I know she'll appreciate that."

Thor tilted his head and stared at Bucky, "You are involved with her?"

"What? No, she's my best friend, I'm just looking out for her."

"That is very kind of you, Bucky. People have a tendency to use priestesses for their own gain, even some gods do."

At that moment, Kagome comes back into the living room, "Aren't you guys hungry, the food getting cold."

"On our way, Doll."

Kagome smiled brightly at them and went back into the kitchen, she asked FRIDAY to inform the rest of the Avengers that lunch was ready. Soon the other Avengers arrived and Kagome placed the enchiladas black bean and rice on the table.

"I hope you all like it I got the recipe off the internet."

"I'm sure it's delicious like everything else you make," Clint tells her.

They all serve themselves, although Kagome served Thor just to make him feel better that she wouldn't be his Priestess. He appreciated the gesture. But of course, Natasha took completely the wrong way and filed away that information to use it against Kagome later.

When lunch was over, everyone thanked Kagome and went to go their own thing. Kagome and Bucky went to the gym so that they could meditate, and Natasha followed them. She decided that now was the perfect time to confront Kagome.

She watched as Kagome and Bucky held hands and meditated. She wasn't pushing any of her spiritual powers into Bucky, it was just a way to help him stay focused.

When they were finished, they hugged and Bucky left. Kagome stayed behind to put the mats away. That was when Natasha slinked her way into the gym, "Wasn't that just the sweetest display of affection between you and Bucky."

Kagome put the mats away and looked at Natasha, "What do you want, Romanoff?"

"Nothing really, I only want you to leave Bruce alone. You're no good for him."

Kagome stared at her and burst out laughing, "Are you insane, I'm not leaving Bruce."

"Look, I'm trying to giving you the opportunity to leave quietly, if you don't I'll expose you for the slut you are."

Natasha gasped as Kagome slapped her hard across the face, "How dare you call me that!"

Natasha held her face then looked at Kagome, "Why not, it's true, I've seen the way you are with Bucky and now you have Thor wrapped around your finger. Why don't you just fuck Thor like you are Bucky and add him to her list of lovers."

This time Kagome punched Natasha and Natasha went down. "You don't know anything, I love Bruce with all my heart if I didn't I wouldn't be having his child!"

"You're pregnant?" Bruce asked as he stood at the door with Tony.

Bruce and Tony had just gotten home and Bruce was so nervous and excited that he wanted to talk to Kagome as soon as possible. So, he asked FRIDAY where she was.

** **She's in the gym with agent Romanoff. I suggest you make your way down there quickly. They seem to be in the middle of a heated argument.*** *

Bruce and Tony looked at each other and quickly made their way to the gym. Bruce opened the door and heard Kagome say that she was pregnant.

Kagome turned to look at Bruce and smiled, "This wasn't the way I wanted to tell you, but yes, I'm pregnant."

"When did you find out?"

"Just today."

Bruce stood there stunned, then suddenly he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Kagome swinging her around, "You're pregnant, we're going to have a baby!"

"Are you okay with this?"

"Okay with this, I am so okay this. I mean I wasn't before because of Hulk but now everything's different and I'm with you and you're going to be the mom and I'm going to be a dad and..."

Kagome kissed Bruce to shut him up, "Bruce, you're rambling."

"Right, sorry, I'm just so happy right now."

"Are you sure it's yours," Natasha asked as she stood up.

Bruce looked at her, "Of course the baby's mine, who else could be the father?"

"Bucky, or any number of men."

"Just what exactly are you implying?"

"That your girlfriend is sleeping with Bucky."

Tony started laughing, "The Winter Tin Man and Kaggy sleeping together, that's insane. That's like saying I'm sleeping with her or Thor."

"Why not? We all know how you are and you should have seen Thor's reaction to her when he met her."

"Thor's here," Bruce asked.

"Yes,"

"How did he react to you?"

"Like a typical god."

Bruce nodded, he totally understood. He cuddled Kagome closer to him, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, nothing I couldn't handle, he took it hard but he recovered."

Tony looked at them confused, "I don't get it."

"Thor's a god, Tony."

"Oh, OH!"

Natasha looked between them confused, she felt like she wa missing something. "That doesn't change the fact that I have proof she's cheating on you!"

"Oh, you mean the kiss at the theatre yeah I know. It was my idea," Bruce said.

"Why would you do that," Natasha asked.

"Because I'm sick of you trying to find dirt on Kagome, I thought this way it would satisfy your sick obsession and you'd leave us alone. Whatever you're trying to do it's not going to work I'm not going to leave Kagome. As a matter of fact…"

Bruce dropped to one knee and took out a jewelry box. He opened it to reveal the most perfect engagement ring, he smiled up at Kagome.

"Kagome, before I met you I was lonely and completely miserable. I never thought that I would ever find someone that would love me completely. But then I crashed landed in the forest behind your house, and you showed me kindness I've never known. I think I fell in love with you that first day. Now two years later I know for a fact I did. Kagome will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Kagome covers her mouth while happy tears roll down her face. She pulled Bruce to his feet and threw herself into his arms, "Yes, of course, I'll marry you."

"Thank you Kagome, you've made me so happy."

"I love you, Bruce."

"I love you too, Kagome."

Tony was standing off to the side with tear welling up in his eyes, he suddenly clapped his hands startling the happy couple, "Well, this calls for champagne or in Kagome's case sparkling cider. I wonder if I have any?"

Kagome and Bruce laugh, "Orange juice will work just fine."

"Okay then, let's go tell everyone."

Tony and the happy couple leave the gym leaving a stunned Natasha standing there.


	34. The Announcement

As they walked to the elevator Bruce's eyes kept flashing green. Bruce could hear in his head Hulk preening over the fact that he too was going to be a father. Every now and then Bruce would wince as Hulk would yell in his head.

"HULK DADDY!"

Kagome noticed Bruce wincing and asked Bruce what was wrong, "Hulk is very excited that he's going to be a daddy too."

Kagome smiled at Bruce, "Yes, Hulk you're going to be a daddy too."

"That's going to be interesting to see. You think the baby will be a little green jelly bean like Hulk?" Tony asked.

Bruce frowned and paused for a moment, Kagome took him by the hand, "Whether or not the baby is like Hulk we'll love him or her just the same."

Bruce slowly nodded, "Yeah, yeah, of course, we will."

He was a little worried at first, but if Kagome wasn't why should he be?

They walked into the elevator and made their way to the communal area where Bucky was talking with Sam, Clint, and Thor. When the elevator doors opened Bucky saw how happy Kagome looked. He smiled at her,

"So?"

"We're pregnant!" Kagome tells him.

"Congratulations, Doll," Bucky said as he made his way over and hugged Kagome then he hugged Bruce.

"Wait, so Bucky knew before me?"

"Of course not, he just knew I was going to take a pregnancy test."

"Why?"

"I ran into her when she came back with a shit load of pregnancy tests, but she said she wasn't going to tell me until she told you."

Bruce looks at Kagome, "How many tests did you take?"

Kagome looks at him sheepishly, "10, I wanted to be sure."

"So am I hearing this right, you and Bruce are going to have a baby?" Sam asked.

"Yes, and we're engaged!"

Bucky eyes widen, he hugs Kagome again and spins her around, "I'm so Happy for you Doll Face."

"YES CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BABE AND UPCOMING NUPTIALS," Thor says with a booming voice as he hugs Bruce and kisses Kagome's hand.

"Inside voice, Point Break, inside voice," Tony tells Thor.

"My apologies, Stark."

Sam and Clint walk over and shake Kagome and Bruce's hand. At this point, Wanda, Pepper, and Vision walk in and ask what's going on.

"Bruce and Kagome are getting married and are having a baby," Tony tells them as he put his arm around Pepper.

Pepper squeals and hugs Kagome and Bruce while Wanda and Vision give their congratulations.

While they're doing that, Tony goes to the bar for the champagne, "Holy shit, we actually do have sparkling cider, huh? Why do we have it?"

Pepper rolls her eyes, "I bought it for Peter when he came over for New Year's Eve."

Tony nods, he then pops the cork on the champagne and cider and pours everyone a drink. At this point, Steve walks in, "Hey what's going on?"

"We're celebrating, Capsicle, Bruce and Kagome are getting married. And they're having a little green bean."

Steve stares at Tony, then his eyes widen, "You're having a baby, that's wonderful, congratulations."

Bruce hugs Kagome, "Thank you, Steve, thanks all of you."

Tony hands out the champagne and hands Kagome the sparkling cider.

"To the happy couple and their new bambino."

"To the happy couple." Everyone repeats.

They all clink their glasses and take a drink. Immediately, Tony accosts the happy couple about planning their wedding. While this is going on Clint quietly slips out and asks FRIDAY where Natasha is at.

 ****She is still in the gym Agent Barton.****

Clint makes his way to the gym, when he gets there Natasha is still standing in the same spot she was earlier. Clint slowly walks up to her.

"Nat, you okay?"

"You heard then?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm down here, I wanted to see how you're holding up."

Natasha schools her face into a blank expression then looks at Clint, "I'm fine, Clint, why wouldn't I be?"

Clint raises an eyebrow, "Nat, you don't have to lie to me. I know you're hurting. I know how much to love him."

She glared at Clint, "I told you, love is for children."

"Then why this obsession with Kagome?"

"She's no good for him. She's hiding something, I know it."

"You're wrong, Nat, if that's all you're really worried about then you're wrong. She's very good for Bruce, whatever she's done in these past two years, she's really helped, Bruce. He and the Big Guy get along and honestly, I've never seen him happier."

"But why would she help him?"

"Because she's a good person, Nat. They still exist, you know."

"She's still hiding something."

"Even if she is, it's not affecting us."

"How do you know it won't?"

"Do you think Bruce would have brought her if he thought she was a danger to the team?"

"Maybe he doesn't know."

Clint sighed, "You're grasping at straws, Nat, just let it go," Clint said then walked out.

Meanwhile, upstairs Tony starts talking about planning a big ass wedding for Kagome and Bruce.

"Tony, that isn't necessary, Bruce and I don't need anything big. All we need is our friends and family there to celebrate our special day," Kagome tells him.

"Well, that's boring. Come on, Brucie, you agree with me, don't you?"

"Actually, I'm with Kagome on this one. I nice simple wedding."

"But-"

"Tell you what, you can be my best man."

"Deal, I'll give you the best simple wedding money can buy."

"And, of course, Pepper, I'd like you to be my maid of honor," Kagome tells her.

"I would be honored, and don't worry I'll keep Tony on a leash."

"Hey! Okay, yeah she will. So, when are we getting married?"

Kagome and Bruce look at each other, "We need to make a few phone calls first then we'll give you a date."

"Fair enough."

They continue to talk and laugh, Tony tells FRIDAY to order some take out and some more sparkling cider. After they finish celebrating, Kagome and Bruce go to their suite and Kagome decides to call her mother and brother.

"Hello?"

"Mom."

"Oh, Kagome, dear, how are you? How's Bruce."

"We're both good, Mom, how are you and Souta?"

"Good, Souta has been keeping very busy with his studies. The shrine has been busier than normal this past couple of weeks. So everything is going very well."

"That's wonderful to hear, Mom. Listen, the reason I'm calling is that Bruce and I have some news."

"You're getting married."

"How did you know?"

Emiko laughs, "Oh, Kagome, with how in love the two of you are, it was only a matter of time."

"There's something else I have to tell you, I'm pregnant."

"That's wonderful, Kagome, I'm so happy for you. Have you called Sesshomaru yet?"

"No, I called you first but I'll call him in a little while. He's going to want to be here for both the wedding and the birth."

Bruce gives Kagome a puzzled look but Kagome waves him off, "I need to also call Souta."

"Souta is here tonight so I'll go ahead and tell him for you. I'm so happy for you, Kagome and congratulations."

"Thank you, Mom, I have to go now so I can call Sesshomaru."

"Okay, Dear, I love you and give my love to Bruce as well."

"I love you too, Mom, and I will. Give my love to Souta. Bye."

Kagome hangs up and looks at Bruce, "My mom sends her love."

"Oh, that's so nice. So who's going to want to be here for the birth?"

"Sesshomaru, he'll want to be here for the wedding and the birth. He's going to want to make the baby part of his pack."

Bruce and Hulk understood completely and accepted it. Kagome had explained to Bruce a long time ago that she was part of Sesshomaru's pack and he always looked after his pack members. So Bruce didn't mind one bit, neither did Hulk.

After she tells Bruce about Sesshomaru, she calls him, "Imouto," Sesshomaru says when he answers the phone, "What have you learned?"

"I'm pregnant, Nii-san. Also, Bruce and I are engaged."

"Because of your pregnancy?"

"No, he didn't even know I was pregnant when he decided to propose."

"Good, then This Sesshomaru will be there for both the wedding and the birth. Notify me when you have set a date. Be sure to call your kit, he will then inform the rest of the pack."

"Alright, Sesshomaru."

"Congratulations, Imouto, Bruce must be sure to treat you well. For if This Sesshomaru finds out differently, his life is forfeit and not even the Hulk will save him."

Kagome rolls her eyes, "Of course he will, Nii-san, he loves us both dearly."

"He better. Now, call your kit. Congratulations again, Kagome."

"Than you, Sesshomaru."

Kagome hangs up and looks at Bruce, Bruce crosses his arms, "He threatened me didn't he? What am I saying, of course, he did."

Kagome giggles, "Was it that obvious?"

"Yep. Are you calling Shippou, now?"

"Yes, he's going to be so excited to have a little brother or sister and a new daddy."

"A new daddy?"

"You know he's going to call you that."

Bruce sighs, "Yeah I know."

Kagome laughed then calls Shippou. And sure enough, Shippou was over the moon at the thought of having a baby brother or sister and that Bruce was going to be his new daddy. He was so predictable.

Once all the calls were made, Kagome and Bruce got ready for bed. Kagome climbs into bed and cuddles up against Bruce. He wraps his arms around her and sighs.

"Are you really happy about the baby," She asks him.

"Yes, I am. It's unexpected, I didn't think it was possible what with the accident and having the Hulk. I was nervous that he would hurt the baby, but now I know that he won't. Oh, and don't be surprised if he goes into super protective mode."

Kagome giggles and rubs his bare chest, "It would be out of character of him if he didn't."

Bruce chuckles and kisses her, "I love you, Kagome."

"I love you too, Bruce, now show me how much you love me."

Bruce rolls over and pins Kagome under him, "Gladly."


	35. Wedding Plans

The next day Kagome and Bruce heard someone pounding on their door. Bruce groaned and disentangled himself from his finaceé. Grabbing his boxers, Bruce slipped them on and went to the door. He sighed and leaned against the door when he saw Tony standing there with a big grin.

"Tony, what are you doing here?"

"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine. I've come to plan your wedding."

Bruce looks at the clock on the wall, "It's seven in the morning, Tony."

"So?"

"So, don't you think it's a little early to be making wedding plans?" Bruce asked.

"No, not at all. Come on; sleepyhead goes get the bride/mother to be, and let's get started."

Kagome came out of the bedroom already dressed, "Tony, I know you're excited about being the best man, but how about some coffee and breakfast first, then we'll start with the wedding plans."

"Oh that would be awesome, what are we having?"

"How about some blueberry pancakes and eggs?"

"Yay."

Kagome smiled at Tony, she goes into the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee and a kettle of water for tea for her and Bruce. She wished that she could have coffee, but now that Kagome knew she was pregnant, that was definitely out of the question. Between her and Bruce, they were able to make breakfast very quickly. While Bruce finished up with the pancakes, Kagome served Tony some coffee then she set the table. Bruce then comes out with a big stack of pancakes, and Kagome goes back into the kitchen to get the eggs.

Tony's eyes light up at the sight of his favorite pancakes. He serves himself some scrambled eggs and five pancakes; he then sprinkles a little Tobasco sauce on his eggs and pancakes then tops it off with syrup and whipped cream.

Kagome giggled, "I thought I was the one who was supposed to have weird cravings."

"What? I like sweet and spicy."

Bruce shakes his head and begins eating his breakfast. Once they finish, he and Kagome clean up then they all sit down in the living room to discuss their wedding.

"So, you guys want a small wedding. I'm assuming that it's just going to be family and a few friends, right?" Tony asks.

"Yes, my mother and brother, Sesshomaru and Shippou and, of course, the Avengers," Kagome tells him.

"Okay, where do you want to have it. I can rent out a nice hall for you guys, and we can have the reception in the same place."

Kagome and Bruce look at each other, "How about we get married here then have the reception at the hall?" Bruce suggests.

Tony thinks for a minute, "Yeah, that doable. Then from there, you can take my plane and go on your honeymoon."

"Tony, you don't need to send us a honeymoon," Kagome tells him.

"I know, but I want to. You can go anywhere you want."

"Are you sure, Tony?" Bruce asks.

"It would be my pleasure. Just let me know where you want to go."

"Can we think about it?" Kagome asks.

"Yes, of course."

As Kagome, Bruce, and Tony were discussing plans for the wedding, when someone knocked at the door. Kagome went to answer and found Pepper standing there. She looked around and saw Tony.

"I thought he'd be here. He's been talking about the wedding since you guys announced it. Good morning Kagome, Bruce."

Tony smiled sheepishly, "Morning, Pepper."

Kagome smiled brightly, "Good morning, Pepper, it's alright that Tony's here. Would you like some breakfast? I made pancakes."

"Are you sure I don't want to be any trouble."

"It's no trouble at all, Pepper, please come in," Bruce tells her.

Pepper comes in; she hugs Kagome and Bruce and kisses Tony on the forehead. Sitting down next to Tony, Kagome serves her some pancakes.

"So, have you decided on a date yet?" Tony asks.

"I want to get married before I start showing," Kagome tells Tony.

"No problem, I can have everything ready in a couple of weeks."

"And I can help you find a nice wedding dress, Kagome," Pepper tells her.

"Oh, that isn't necessary. I thought of getting married in a maternity dress."

Pepper and Tony look at each other, "Absolutely not, just because you're getting married in a few weeks doesn't mean you shouldn't have the best, Kagome," Tony tells her.

Kagome tears up, "Thank you, Tony, that's so sweet."

Tony waves it off, "Think nothing of it. Only the best for my friends," Tony said, then his eyes lit up, "We also have to make a nursery for your little green bean. So either we add on or get you a new suite. You know what scratch adding on. I'm going to build you a house on the grounds."

"Tony, you don't have to do that. We can just use the spare bedroom," Bruce said.

"NO! It'll be fun. We have a lot of extra space; I don't see why we don't use it. It's only going to waste, and this way, you and Kagome will have your privacy, except from me, of course."

"But, Tony, you're already planning our wedding. We couldn't ask you to do anything else for us," Kagome said.

"You're not asking; I'm volunteering. Please, let me do this for you," Tony said sincerely, "I don't want my best friends to move away."

"How can we ever repay you for this, Tony?"

"Easy, make me the little green jelly bean's godfather," Tony said with a smirk.

Kagome and Bruce looked at each other and smiled, "We had already decided that you and Pepper were going to be the godparents, Tony, that is, of course, if you want to?"

Pepper and Tony looked at each other. Pepper suddenly squealed and hugged Kagome, "I would be honored to be the godmother to your baby!" Then she hugged Bruce.

Tony started tearing up, "I was only joking when I said that, Brucie."

"But we're not, Tony," Bruce said.

"Why would you want someone like me to be godfather to your kid? I'm a fuck up."

"No, you're not, Tony. You're kind and generous to a fault. You care deeply for those that you consider your true friends, and I'm honored that you consider Bruce and me some of your best friends." Kagome tells him.

A tear runs down Tony's cheek, and he quickly wipes it away. Kagome instantly hugs Tony and pushes a little of her powers into him to make him feel better. Tony sighs at feeling Kagome's calming influence on him, "Thank you, you two. I have never been so honored and happy to have something asked of me in all my life."

"So then you accept," Bruce asked.

"Of course, I accept," Tony said then hugged Bruce.

Tony then let go of Bruce and cleared his throat, "Okay, it's time to get to work, your bambino will be here before you know it and there's so much to do. I'll get started in designing your house, and Pepper will help Kagome pick out her wedding dress," Tony said and looked at Pepper, who nodded.

"Alright, operation Wedding/Homecoming begins today," Tony said as he walked out of Bruce and Kagome's suite, "FRIDAY, let's start a new file and get to work."

** **Whatever you say, Boss.** **


End file.
